Alive
by Fae 206
Summary: (Future Set) Six years ago, Kuon Hizuri was announced dead when the plane he was on went missing. Now he is back in Japan not a day older than the day of the accident. When the twenty-six year old realizes that Kyoko is twenty-eight and their daughter is seven, how can he navigate through his life? How many more changes have happened? Will the world accept the old Kuon once again?
1. Chapter 1 - honey, I'm home

**AN:** Yes I know that this is _another_ fic and I should be working on the ones I have currently but I think I can add yet another Skip Beat fic to my user and still find time to complete them 😊 Plus this is an idea based off one of my favorite short stories as well as one of my favorite overused plot lines.

At the end of this chapter I'm going to give a summary of the other Skip Beat stories that I am currently working on.

 **Alive**

 **Chapter One – Honey, I'm Home**

 _The plane mysteriously vanished. Despite reports recording this as a plane crash, we were unable to find the wreckage. The search goes on._

 _We have reports that have confirmed that several people were on this plane including the rivals Kuon Hizuri and Shou Fuwa as well as many other names in the entertainment industry such as Koga Hiromune and Yumi Aigawa."_

 _It has been confirmed that, although the wreckage has not been found, A-lister Hizuri Kuon is dead._

Kyoko had never been able to get those words out of her head. She had been so happy that her husband had been able to book an earlier flight than the one he had planned on taking. He had said that he wanted to see her sooner and be with her and their child. He had been such a good dad and all he wanted was a happy home. It was the worst thing she had ever heard when the news broke. _Her_ husband, the gallant, charismatic, and kind Kuon had died. That was six-years-ago.

The twenty-eight-year-old Kyoko pulled down the clothes from the line. Her family was still important to her, but that part of her heart had never mended itself. She heard the sound of her seven-year-old daughter playing. She decided to take a break from the laundry and walked towards the little girl who was skipping around.

She had never had the privilege of knowing her father despite the strong father-figures in her life. It was a shame, but her family kept her so loved and though they could never replace Kuon, they gave her something new. "Hey, Isabella," Kyoko grinned at the little girl, "What are you playing?"

"I'm trying to summon the fairies," the seven-year-old said happily. "Like those stories you tell me about Daddy," she said and Kyoko felt tears in her eyes. "I believe that they're out there, right Mommy?" she asked and Kyoko smiled softly.

"Yes," she said as she spread out a towel and sat down on it. "Come here," she said with her arms out wide. She captured her daughter in her arms and grinned as she pulled her down in a hug. "You know, it's always good to see the fairies if you look up into the sky. You know that when I met Daddy, he showed me that he could fly just like the fairies."

"Was it Daddy who gave you this?" Isabella asked as she reached out to touch the ring on Kyoko's finger.

Before Kyoko could answer, she heard a knock on the gate and got up. "I wonder who that is," she said as Isabella looked after her.

"Is it the director again?" Isabella asked. Kyoko had blossomed well and not only was she the actress who represented Japan but she was a top model as well. Her job always reminded her of Kuon though. None of the actors who worked these days even came close to matching his talent.

"Maybe, he does seem to be changing the script a little too often," Kyoko smiled as she kissed her daughter on the forehead and pulled her in for one last hug. She let her fingers run through Isabella's long blond hair and her green eyes that made her look so much like her father. Kyoko hadn't known how she had inherited those traits, but it made the heartache a little easier knowing that she had a part of the first guy she had ever loved with her at all times.

As Kyoko got to the gate, she opened it and took a step back, her entire body turning pale as she looked at the unstable twenty-six-year-old that she knew too well. She opened her mouth before closing it as she saw the man in a deeper sense of shock. Kyoko's hands shook as she looked him up and down. He had some bruises on his body, but he looked so similar to the last time she had seen him six years ago. As tears slid down her cheeks, she reached out to him, "Ku-on?" she asked as he nodded.

"K-Kyoko?" he asked as his voice broke and Kyoko reached out to him. This was like some fairytale that you never really thought would happen. She reached out to touch his blond hair and let her hand slip onto his cheek. Had she finally lost her mind? "Kyo-Y-You are Kyo-ko?" he said as Kyoko slipped a finger on his lips and let her hand reach for his chest. It was warm and she could feel his heartbeat. She let her hand slide onto his throat and she could feel his pulse.

She took a step back feeling her whole body shake. He _seemed_ alive or maybe she had lost her mind. Had she hit her head somehow and was going insane? "H-H-how is this…" she said before looking him over again. "Don't move," she tried to tell him before allowing one of her hands to rest on his cheek and she gently pulled him down so that she could kiss him. How did this feel the same? How was he _here_ right now when he was supposed to be dead? She had mourned for him for six-years and here he stood as if none of that had ever happened. "Kuon?" she asked.

Flinging her arms around his shoulders, Kyoko pulled herself into his chest and felt his arms wrap around her as if her body had been magnetized to him. She didn't know how this was possible without fairy magic and if it was the fairies, why had they waited so long to bring him back to her? She didn't care that she was older than him now, she didn't care how successful her career was, this was _Kuon._

"Kyoko," he said sadly, "I don't understand what's going on," he said as he sounded so timid but Kyoko couldn't bear to pull away from him. "I hea-heard it's…it's been six years since…"

Kyoko nodded before taking a step back though it pained her to do so. "Ye-Yes," she nodded.

"So that would make you twenty-eight?" he attempted to clarify and Kyoko nodded. It was so strange that now _she_ was the older one in their relationship. It was weird that she was the one with both more acting experience than him and life experience. "I…I'm…"

"You're?" Kyoko saw him move unsteadily so pulled him towards a little bench in their garden as Isabella watched them carefully. "Come on, you should sit," she said as her hands still shook as she took him in. She wanted to get to the bottom of this and figure out what was going on and how her husband was here not a day older than when he had died. "Yes, I'm twenty-eight," she repeated as she saw him attempt to take it in.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, "Isabella is over there," she gestured to the little girl who was watching them innocently. There was a look of confusion in her eyes and Kuon's eyes widened as he took her in. He hadn't seen her since she was a one-year-old.

"Is there something I can get for you?" Kyoko asked, "Water? I still have some of that tea that you like, I tend to make it for myself when I feel nostalgic," she said as Kuon turned to look at her and nodded. He was still looking at her in shock.

"I…I should…your husband or boyfriend or -" Kuon kept looking around, taking in everything that was different and Kyoko was so relieved that he was sitting. He wouldn't have been stable on his feet.

"My husband…" Kyoko said as she looked down trying to find the right words to say it.

"Okay, so your husband is here? Is he at work? I hope that you're ha-happy with him," he said as Kyoko looked up at him.

She didn't know what to say because she was scared of him judging her. She knew that the rest of Japan judged her for it, but she was nervous when it came to his response. She hadn't had feelings of affection for any other man. She hadn't dated anyone and she was starting to gain the name 'Red Widow' because of how, although her hair was longer, she usually still dyed it and she would talk about her love for Kuon when asked about her love life. She had been completely faithful to him. She hadn't expected for him to come back though.

"Well, I've missed him a lot," Kyoko smiled. She saw Kuon's bewilderment as he looked back at her. "Kuon, I'm still in love with the first man to ever truly love me," she told him. "My husband is an incredible person who I thought I had lost until just a few minutes ago. How could I ever fall in love with anyone else?" she asked him as he looked at her, finally with a small smile.

Kyoko was surprised when she saw him attempting to stand and stood up to give him some support. She still needed to figure this out, but if he was here then she just wanted him to stay here. Their age difference had always been something that was there, but now that he was two-years younger than her, she was seeing it in a new light. She wanted to take care of him and make sure that he was okay. Was that something you did to your husband if he was younger than you?

Kyoko held his hand as he walked over to Isabella and knelt down in front of her. She placed a protective hand on his back.

"Hi," he said with tears in his eyes as Isabella looked back at him. "I'm sure that you don't remember me," he said nervously to the young girl. Isabella looked at him before running towards him and felt Kuon catch her in his arms and hold her to his chest. He pressed soft kisses in her hair, thinking about how much she looked like his mother.

"You're my Daddy, like Mommy shows me," Isabelle sobbed as Kuon closed his eyes. He couldn't believe that his daughter had grown up so much. He nodded, letting his arms hold her even closer. "Mommy talks about you every night and she showed me your picture," she said to him as Kuon looked up at Kyoko, his eyes still wide in shock.

"Thank you," he told her as Kyoko placed a hand on his shoulder. She nodded to him wanting to keep him safe and protect him from going missing again.

"Yes," he nodded to her. "I'd like to be your Daddy, Isabella," he said slowly. "Will you do me the honor of letting me? I'd like to learn all about you."

"Yeah!" Isabella giggled, "I want you too, Daddy" she said as Kuon reached out to touch her.

"You're so beautiful," he said as he noticed how many of Kyoko's features she actually had despite the hair and eyes being more of his and his mother's. "I'm sure you're really smart too," he said as she nodded.

"I get all the best test marks like Mommy," she told him as Kuon attempted to follow along.

"Isabella, let's go inside," Kyoko said, "I'll make something for us. It's nearly snack time," she reminded the little girl. "Make sure to wash your hands," she said as Isabella skipped towards the house. Kyoko took this moment to kneel opposite her younger husband.

"Are you staying here?" she asked as she took his hand and pressed her lips on it.

"Am I allowed to?" Kuon asked as he tried to take her in. There weren't that many changes and yet he couldn't stop thinking about how she had matured so much, how her body and face were those of an adult. He couldn't stop thinking about how _he_ was closer to twenty-five and _she_ was closer to thirty. Thirty? In only a couple of years….

"Of course," Kyoko said as she pulled him into her chest, "I don't want you anywhere else. Welcome home, Kuon" she said knowing that the words might have a completely different meaning to him.

 **End Chapter One**

 **AN2:** Thank you to everyone who chose to read this story. I'd be really thankful for any reviews you might be generous enough to give, but even if you don't review thank you for reading.

As I said: Here is a list of all the Skip Beat fics I am currently working on

 **If Love Was a Memory:** After a traumatic experience, the married (and mother) Kyoko loses memories of her life after the age of fifteen and it is up to her husband, Kuon, to help her gain them back.

 **It's Just Like Magic:** Kyoko tells Ren of her feelings for him which gives Ren the confidence to come out as Kuon. Currently they are in the US where both of them are getting some new acting related roles

 **Kuon:** Following a plane crash (😉) Kuon is one of the lucky survivors, however due to a head injury his luck has also brought at least three multiple personalities. Can Kyoko handle this change in her husband?

 **More Like a Phoenix:** After getting targeted by a rival gang from his youth, Kuon is drugged, bound, and left for dead in a burning apartment. With some rather nasty burns on his face, can he rise like the flames from a phoenix? Since he has his girlfriend's (Kyoko's) support, most likely.

 **My Sweetest Corn and My Dearest Kuon:** Kuon's enemies create an elaborate plan to harm him which involves Kyoko's perceived death from illness and a torture plot for the two of them. (M Rated)

 **Secrets:** Newly married couple, Kuon and Kyoko Hizuri, both have secrets that they are scared to tell one another whether these are new secrets or ones just about to form. Starts off with Kuon having stomach cancer and Kyoko being pregnant, currently there are some secrets concerning the Yakuza.

 **The Cold Body of the Law:** After Kyoko is targeted by a stalker, husband Kuon attempts to protect her which leads to him getting shot. With fairy magic on their side, Kuon is brought back to life but only in the body of a young lawyer named Takeshi Chiba.

 **The Lake in the Park:** Kyoko and Ren are costarring in one of the biggest dramas of the year. With the director Kuu Hizuri leading them. It is soon found out that Ren's secret is exposed, but can Kyoko and Kuon navigate through the media frenzy that's coming their way?

 **The Little Prince:** An Alternate Reality take on the meeting between Corn and Kyoko. Following an accident which leads to a disability, the Hizuri family has to stay in Japan for longer than expected. This allows young Kyoko to spend more time with this loving family leading her to a changed and better life and a crush on a different prince.

 **The Voice:** Bored with only having one identity, despite it being the identity of Kyoko's husband, Kuon decides to create a new image: MAZE. MAZE becomes a popular singer, but will Kyoko discover this identity and who is Mina Ta?

 **Young at Heart:** After an accident leads to Kyoko being disabled and her young child nearly dying, Kuon decides to make a sacrifice for his family. Offering himself to the fairies, he is aged physically by fifty years making him nearly an eighty-year-old man. Despite his family's love, will he be able to embrace this new body and age demographic?


	2. Chapter 2 - The New President

**AN:** I really wasn't expecting to update this so fast but there were more reviews than I expected as well. Thank you so much for showing your support for this story. I am very excited.

 **Chapter Two – The New President**

"Daddy" Isabella smiled as she saw her father staring around the house. This was all new to him and he didn't know how to describe the fact that one moment he was in a plane plummeting towards an uncharted mountain range and the next he was being driven by a tribal looking woman and dropped off at this address with his wallet and phone and the bag he had packed.

He didn't know what had happened or why. Things like this didn't really happen. Six years couldn't just fly by in the literal blink of an eye. He looked towards his daughter. She was energetic, creative, friendly, beautiful, intelligent, and a lot of other things that he knew Kyoko was responsible for. He was mostly responsible for giving her the genes for her hair and eye color. Kyoko had really been the one who had raised her.

"Here," Kyoko smiled as she handed him a small bowl of soup. She placed the bowl down on a saucer and sat down opposite him, she couldn't keep herself from studying him. "I think I have a few pieces of your clothes," she said. It was a lie, she had two boxes of his clothes because of the nostalgia. Of course, one box was reserved for the suit, shirt, and tie combination he had worn on the day that the two of them had been married and she had also put her wedding dress in there.

Another box was filled with things that she couldn't bear to part with. The pair of pants he wore when he proposed to her. The suit jacket that he had had on when he had told her that he loved her. Various pieces like that. She had kept them because of their relation to certain events between the two of them. She couldn't bear to part with all of it.

"I have a few other boxes of things that I've kept as well, gifts I gave to you, things that I remember were important to you, all of the different scripts you had," she said as she watched him take a small sip of the soup. He looked so nervous and frightened and she wasn't sure what she should do. People didn't usually come back from the dead with working lungs and a pulse you could feel.

"Thank you," he nodded stiffly as he tried to get comfortable. "Are you still acting?" he asked as Isabella ran to join them.

"Mommy's the greatest actress in Japan," she grinned as she sat next to her father. "She's won a lot of awards," she said proudly as Kyoko bowed her head and nodded.

"That's good," Kuon said as he took another sip of the soup. "I'm really glad that my death didn't cause you to reject the career," he said with a weak smile in which Kyoko could tell his relief. "I feel like I should spend the next two weeks just watching your work," he said and Kyoko looked down.

"Kuon, you don't need to do that. Yes, I've added a lot to my resume and now I get a lot of choices of what to do next, but you don't need to do everything at once," she heard her phone buzz and sighed. She didn't want to answer it just yet. She knew what it was concerning and she didn't want to throw too much at Kuon all at once.

The phone buzzed again causing Kuon to look around for it and pay more attention to Kyoko's needs than his own. Kyoko stood and walked over to the coffee table to see that it _was_ what she predicted. It was a text from work telling her that she needed to meet with the director to go over a script change.

"I swear, if they keep doing this I'll have to drop the role," she said under her breath before looking back at Kuon who was staring up at her with such innocence in his eyes. "Corn," she said as she knelt before him, "Sweetheart," she took his hand again. "I really have to go and meet with someone. Is there anywhere that you'd want to go? Do you want to stay here with Isabella?" she asked as Kuon's eyes widened a little more.

"Uh, I…" he looked away, "I think maybe I should go talk to the president."

Kyoko delivered an awkward sigh after she said that and she saw Kuon's eyes zone into her face.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her and Kyoko moved weakly. She looked at her daughter and placed a finger to her lips indicating that the information needed to be kept private.

"Well, Lory's retired," she told him as he blinked in surprise. "He's okay but a few years ago he ran into some health issues. They still ask him for his advice or input now and again and the Takarada family is still getting the money, but…"

"Then Maria took over? His son?" Kuon asked as Kyoko shook her head.

"Maria is in college right now. She actually went into a surprising field which she really enjoys. As for Lory's son, he didn't feel he fit into that position so they went with a personal connection. I'm sure that if you meet with him, he'll be able to get you into acting again. He's always been a fan of your work," Kyoko said before winking to Isabella and putting a finger to her lips again.

"That means that we can't tell you, Daddy" Isabella tried to explain, "because _that man_ would want to see you himself in person." She saw Kuon blink in confusion before he paused.

"There wouldn't be something hooded in that box would there?" he asked and Kyoko shook her head.

"Not in the box, but there's a hoody that I have. It still smells like your cologne," she told him as he blinked. Kyoko stood up and leaned over, she placed a kiss on his cheek before whispering, "I'll be right back, okay?" she saw his nervous nod and went to her bedroom…their bedroom. Once she had picked it up, she brought it to him. "I'm just going to let him know that you're coming or that I'm bringing someone over who is interested in acting," Kyoko said before looking at Isabella. "I'll also see if Maria can look after you," she told her daughter before exiting the room.

Kuon looked down, getting the jacket on so that his identity wouldn't be in question and looked down. He smiled at Isabella who was watching him.

"Daddy, can you play with me?" she asked and Kuon nodded.

"Sure, what game did you want to play?" he asked and Isabella giggled before pulling out her Barbie dolls. She handed one to him and Kuon nodded.

When Kyoko entered the room, she smiled at how her husband and daughter were connecting by playing Barbies. She felt mournful about all of the things that Kuon had missed out on. Maybe they should consider having a second child.

"Well, we're all set," Kyoko smiled. "I'll drop you off with Maria first and then when we come and collect you, maybe you," she looked at Kuon, "can meet with Lory again."

Kuon nodded nervously before watching Isabella dash off to get her shoes and jacket on. He followed nervously as Kyoko watched him. They would all have a lot of adjusting to do.

…..

…..

Kuon sat just outside the president's office as Kyoko had a conversation with him. Fortunately, the hooded jacket plus the fact that he was deceased had allowed for him to step inside the agency without anyone knowing his true identity. He didn't know who the new president was but apparently they had met. That was a relief but once he knew who it was then he might know whether he could get back into acting or not. He looked towards the door nervously.

"Kyoko," Kuu Hizuri said as he looked at the twenty-eight-year-old with a weak smile. "You know that as my daughter, I want to give you everything I can, but when Lory put me in charge, he told me that I can't let nepotism sway me."

"I'm just asking you to meet with him," Kyoko said trying to be as vague as possible on the identity of this actor, "He's extremely talented and I don't think you want to wait for him to audition especially with some of the work he's already done."

"Are you dating him?" Kuu asked as Kyoko gave him a serious look and Kuu put his hands up in defense, "It's a serious question. If this is someone that you met on set then I'm not going to stand in your way and I'm not going to use my prejudice to block him, but there is a process for this."

Kyoko looked at him sternly, "How many times do I have to explain to you that I would rather be celibate than with anyone other than your son?" Kyoko attempted to argue.

"And how many times do you have to make me tell you that Kuon is dead?" Kuu asked. "I have to tell myself that every single morning. I have to remind myself that I lost out on the chance to really get to know my little boy. I'm his father so imagine how hard it is to keep repeating those words," Kuu struggled and Kyoko could already see the tears in his eyes.

"Father, if you don't meet with him then you're going to regret it," she said as Kuu saw how serious she was and nodded.

"Fine," he sighed. "However, if my answer is that he has to audition then you have to accept that," he told her and Kyoko smiled.

"I trust that after you know who he is, you'll welcome him into the agency with open arms. If I'm wrong then you can choose the next role that I play," she said as Kuu sighed and placed two fingers on his forehead.

"I said fine, send him in," Kuu said as Kyoko stepped out into the hallway.

"You can come in now, the president has agreed to meet with you," she smiled as Kuon looked to her with a grateful smile. So, she had really had to go to bat for him with this guy. He really hoped that he could get in but if he was made to audition then he'd work for the chance to get in.

As Kuon entered the office, his eyes caught onto his much older and bearded father who just looked exhausted by the world.

"So, you're this amazing actor that my daughter keeps talking about?" Kuu said. "So, what's your name?"

Kuon stood there frozen before he lowered the hood of his jacket and Kuu turned pale as he just stared at the man before him. No. Way. "Ku-Kuon Hizuri," he said as he looked back at Kyoko and reached for her hand. She smiled at him, gesturing for him to move forwards and reconnect with his father.

"Kuon?" Kuu said as he stood up. This couldn't be happening. His son was dead. Was he hallucinating this? Was the stress of being the president over such a huge agency causing him to slip into insanity? "H-H-How?" he asked and Kuon shook his head not knowing how to answer that.

"I don't…know. I don't know where the last six-years are," he said as he saw his father approach him. "I…" he turned to Kyoko again who was smiling and as he looked back at Kuu, his dad reached out to take his chin in his hand. "So, you're president of LME?" he asked weakly as Kuu studied him, turning his face to really examine him as a few tears slid down his cheeks.

"Yes," Kuu nodded as he took a step back and tried to focus on what had happened. This was unreal. His son didn't look any younger or any older than when he had died and they had never found the body even after all of those years. "Please answer me this, when I took my son to Japan for the first time, where was the first place I took him to eat and what were his feelings on that?" Kuu asked trying to make sure that he was actually talking to his son. He didn't know what was going on but he wanted to make sure that this was his little boy.

"It was a Moz Burger," Kuon told him, "and I kept telling you that we should have gone to McDonald's because the food was better even if it was in Japan."

Kuon felt a sense of shock as Kuu gave him the biggest bear hug possible.

"We were so certain that we lost you," he said as he pressed Kuon's head down so he could hold him closer. "I'm so happy to see you, Kuon," he said as Kuon could hear weak sobs from him. He finally had his deceased son in his arms again. "Can you sit down? I'd like to talk if that's okay."

"I need to meet with the director anyway," Kyoko smiled as she looked at her husband. "Is that okay?"

"Y-Yes," Kuon said as he took a seat and looked down nervously. Kyoko kissed him again before looking back at Kuu and smiled.

"I love you, I'll see you after your discussion," she promised Kuon. "Bye, Father, go easy on him" she said before leaving.

Kuon continued to stare at the floor as Kuu watched him silently, unsure whether to make the first step or not. Maybe they could reach the answers together but it was as if his prayers had been answered. His child had returned.

 **End of Chapter Two**

 **AN2:** Thank you to everyone who has read and supported this story so far (even though it is brand new). Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter One: **Ashenvale, brennakai, RichkeyZero**


	3. Chapter 3 - Time

**AN:** So, unfortunately, I have some kind of virus so I ask you to bear with me for the next few days. I'll do my best to upload chapters that make sense. I also know that I uploaded the third chapter already but I wasn't happy with it. Thank you anyway to brennakai for reading it, it makes me feel a little better when I read over what you said 😊. Well anyway, please enjoy.

 **Chapter Three - Time**

The clock ticked loudly on the wall as the two Hizuris looked at the space between them. Kuu had so many things that he wanted to say to his son. He wanted to tell him how he looked okay despite a few scars and that he was thrilled to have him alive. Okay, thrilled was downplaying it. He couldn't help but think that this was a dream or hallucination. Kuon didn't look a day older than he had when he had boarded the flight.

"Mo-" Kuon said very softly as Kuu stood up.

"Do you need anything, I mean, do you want something to…did you say something?" he asked nervously as Kuon looked ahead of himself as if he had seen a ghost. Kuu was looking at his son in the same way.

"It's…fine," Kuon said slowly as he looked at his hand and moved each finger up and down.

"No, please…" Kuu sat down again and looked over at his son, "What were you going to say? Anything you want to say you're welcome to do so."

Kuon looked up at his father. "How's Mom?" he asked weakly as Kuu smiled.

"She's taken a while to heal," he said as he thought about Julie. "She's been spending some time working in the fashion industry, there's a couple of foundations that she's been heading. I think those started about five years ago. She has one where she finds fashionable clothes for kids from poor neighborhoods and they are donated, if something gets taken or lost then she replaces it out of the foundation money. There's another one where she talks to teenagers who have been caught up in gangs or drugs or are more troubled, she's working with a group of young girls now and trying to help them get into good high schools. That one is called…."

Kuu looked down not able to say the name. It was something that he helped out with as well and was thankful that Julie had come to Japan. This was somewhere where the two of them could give back to the world and help the kids in the way they were ill-equipped to help their own son when they were in their late thirties.

"Is called?" Kuon asked as he looked at his father.

"The Kuon Hizuri Foundation," Kuu said as Kuon nodded with a weak smile. He knew that the media had reported on his history before and that people knew he had a rough nature. If it had been someone other than his parents or Kyoko who had named it that, then he might have had a problem. However, the fact that they had chosen his name only proved the transparency of what the foundation was really about.

"Has it been helping her?" Kuon asked nervously as he had a rather guilty and sad expression on his face.

Kuu reached out a hand and placed it on his son's shoulder, "It has. I promise you that it has. Kuon…it's…it's really great to see you, son." He laughed weakly and Kuon looked around the office. There were so many changes since he had last been in this room, but there was a lot of changes in life that he wasn't aware of.

"We love you. I know that you might not really be here," Kuu said awkwardly as a few tears rolled down his cheeks over the pain that he had gone through with Kuon's death. Even though Kuon was in front of him right now, it felt too good to be true.

"Dad?" Kuon asked as his eyes widened in shock. "I'm here, I-"

"Please know that whoever you ever believed yourself to be and whatever you were doing and however you felt inside, I've always loved you unconditionally. The day that I heard that you were dead was the single worst day of my life," he said as Kuon looked down. "Even though this might just be the hallucination of a man who has lost someone of upmost importance to him, please let me tell you that I love you. You're my one and only precious son and even if you vanish into thin air, we love you. No matter how much pain you were going through or how much you didn't think you deserved love, your mother and I love you with all of our hearts."

"I love you too, Dad" Kuon said as he looked down and attempted to keep the tears out of his own eyes. "Can we call her?" he asked and Kuu nodded.

"I'll make the call. I want her to see with her own eyes so I won't tell her just yet," he told Kuon as he reached for the phone. He turned his back to his son as he held his phone in his hand. He paused before making the call and counted to twenty. He turned around, his body expecting for Kuon to have just vanished away and so was surprised when he was there. He let a heavy sob from his body before calming himself enough to call Julie.

…..

…..

" _Nadia," a young boy of mixed descent called out to the mocha skinned girl as she approached the village. "I thought that you were not due back here for three days. I take it that you took Mr. Hizuri back to his home without any problems."_

" _You are right, Orson," Nadia smiled happily. "He is to live with his wife and their child. He retains no memory of the treatment of the past six years."_

" _Well, to be fair he wasn't really conscious for the greater part or should I say present," Orson smiled as Nadia laughed and made her way towards the water._

" _You're a fool," Nadia stuck her tongue out at Orson as they both went through the village where there didn't seem to be a single person above the age of thirty-five. "Whereas he was not present in body, he was in spirit. I still do not understand why you felt a need to save the blond man. He did not share in the same energy that Mr. Hizuri did."_

" _I thought there was good in everybody, I thought that we should share our water equally."_

" _Well, there are some people who are better than others," Nadia smiled as she saw the water. She looked up at the mountain peaks that surround them. "After all, I trust that Mr. Hizuri would not betray us as this water is more valuable than his life," she crouched down and slid her hands into the ocean before cupping the water and bringing it up to her lips. Her body renewed._

…..

…..

Kyoko grinned as she saw Yashiro downstairs waiting for her. She had already informed him that she needed to go and meet with the director again but first she needed to meet with Kuu. She approached the thirty-seven-year-old man and smiled wondering whether to break the news to him about Kuon's return or not. "Morning," she grinned. "How are you doing today, Yashiro?" she said as she ran her hand through her hair.

"I take it that you're having a better morning than most," Yashiro smiled as he pulled out the personal schedule he had for Kyoko. "You have a rather packed day tomorrow," he told her. "As for today, there isn-"

"Whatever you can move back from tomorrow, please do so" Kyoko requested with a smile and Yashiro raised an eyebrow.

"You never change schedules unless…is everything okay with Isabella?" he asked her as Kyoko managed to take the schedule out of her manager's hands and walk ahead of him to where her car was parked.

"She is fine, it's just…" Kyoko grinned as she noticed a period of two hours that she'd have free in a few days. "How's Diana doing?"

"Well," Yashiro said as he looked at the actress suspiciously. It wasn't unusual for her to inquire about his wife, she had done so every day he had told her he was dating the therapist, but walking this fast and doing it was not the usual process.

"Great." Kyoko smiled, "I want to have a double date with the two of you. Somewhere private," she noticed Yashiro's surprised and slightly happy smile. She knew that Yashiro had had these ideas of how she and Kuon would be in the future and, just like everybody else, he had had to tell himself that it had ended. She didn't know how to tell him in the most accurate details.

"You're seeing somebody?" Yashiro said and nodded, "Kuon would have wanted that for you," he tried to tell her and Kyoko smiled.

"Well, he does want that for me," she said. "At least, I hope that he wants that or it would make a double date a little awkward if it was to be brought up at that point."

Yashiro looked at her completely puzzled.

"Kyoko, are you feeling alright?" he asked as they came into the garage. "If you're not feeling well then you shouldn't push yourself. I miss teasing Kuon a lot myself. Sometimes I feel that he's just going to pull up in the car with anger fizzing behind him over how we all left him for dead, but he is dead." Yashiro sighed and saw Kyoko pause and turn to him.

"Yashiro, have I ever indicated feeling attraction towards anyone apart from my husband. I know that people here don't think I date and I don't because I fell in love a long time ago with someone who is irreplaceable." Kyoko argued and looked up before turning to Yashiro and looking at him face on. "I have asked you only a few times not to have any judgement about my choices and this time I am requesting the same courtesy."

Yashiro nodded as he saw a light in Kyoko's eyes that he hadn't seen since the morning of the date of Kuon's death.

"The man that I am with, my significant other so to speak, is my husband," she said as Yashiro's eyes widened.

"Did you get married again?" he asked and Kyoko paused and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not that secretive. No, my husband and Isabella's biological fa-" Kyoko tried to rephrase but Yashiro caught her before she could finish that thought.

"Kyoko, Kuon is dead. I know that his body never was recovered but he's gone. It's a truth that I find difficult to acknowledge myself because when I got to really know him he stopped being a client and became a friend and very shortly after that, we became like brothers. I think you should go and see a doctor because -" Yashiro paused as Kyoko pulled up a picture of her and Kuon that was taken about an hour ago.

"What…the…" Yashiro asked as he held the phone and Kyoko looked at him.

"He's talking with Kuu right now. We're all trying to figure out what is going on and why he's back, but even if he's a zombie, I would rather lose you as a manager and as a friend than him. I'm going to keep him safe no matter what," she said with a determined look in her eyes as Yashiro couldn't keep his eyes off of the photo.

Was Kuon really back?

 **End Chapter Three**

 **AN2:** The italicized part is not dated but it is not happening at the same time as the others 😊. If you read the earlier version, the part with Julie will be in the next chapter 😊

 **AN3:** Thank you to everyone who reads and supports this fic. Special shout out to **Ashenvale** and **brennakai** for reviewing Chapter Two.


	4. Chapter 4 - Julie's Little Boy

**AN1:** I know I just updated this fic, but after spending half the day ill yesterday and half the day on homework today, I wanted to write something that I was excited about writing. I hope you enjoy.I also rewrote the last chapter, I think yesterday, so if you want to check that as well you might get a clearer picture of what's going on 😊

 **Chapter Four – Julie's Little Boy**

Julie smiled as she came out of the "utility room" of LME. It was a fairly small room that used to hold some of Lory's stage combat pieces and both Kuu and the former president had told her it would be great for her to use to relax or even to conduct meetings with parents for the students that she taught. She had just been talking to a young model's parents about how best to schedule school and the necessary things to know for the first major shoot that she had booked.

It was nice to see young adults going out to create their own dreams. If only… Julie closed her eyes and took out a card case. She opened it. On one side was a picture of Kuu with his arms around her whilst she was holding Kuon as a baby and the other one was of a smiling Kuon and Kyoko with their daughter. Tears filled to her eyes as she remembered something very precious to her.

" _So, I….I wanted to phone you and say that both Kyoko and Isabella are doing well. Did I forget to tell you that? That our daughter, my daughter…I'm a father, Mom. Well we're all looking forward to seeing you and dad and everyone is doing well. We love you."_

Julie tried to dab away at the tears in her eyes. It had been over six years since he had fallen victim to that plane crash and if she hadn't known the pilot had died as well and his family was in mourning, she would have sought damages for her little boy. She smiled down at the picture. "I think you'd be proud of my skills as a teacher, Ku—" she started to speak to the photograph before she was jolted from her thoughts by another woman.

"Kuon!" the woman said and Julie's eyes widened, she looked up and then turned to see a young Japanese boy dancing in a circle as if playing a game by himself. She paused and then turned to the younger woman. "Kuon! Stop that. You're going to break something and then it'll be a negative reflection on me," she said and Julie looked at the small boy as tears came to her eyes again. She could remember having that much enjoyment playing with Kuon when he was a child.

" _Kuon, come on honey, let's go home," Julie laughed as she watched the five-year-old elementary schooler. She reached out and ruffled his hair up as he grinned at her._

" _Mom" he laughed happily, "There are so many leaves. Do you think there will be new birds around?"_

" _Probably," Julie nodded as she offered her hand to her son, "We'll have to keep an eye out for them. Maybe when Daddy has a moment of free time from his latest project, he'll take you bird watching again. That would be a lot of fun, right?" she asked before hearing another mother walking around._

" _Mom. You can't force me to be friends with that Kuon kid, he's weird, he probably only eats rice, gross." Julie looked across at where one of the popular boys was She took a weak breath in before seeing Kuon staring off into space. He had obviously heard that and he wanted so badly to keep his strength for her._

" _Kuon?" Julie asked as she watched him. She sighed before grabbing an armful of leaves and throwing them up into the sky before twirling around as they fell down around her. She laughed loudly and Kuon stared at her not knowing how to move. It was then that he saw the other mother and popular kid looking at his mother._

" _Look at all the colors," Julie smiled as she felt a couple of leaves fall into her hair. She smiled at the other mother and her son. "What's wrong with the two of you? Do you not have any imagination?" she laughed as she saw Kuon look at her with a weak smile, shaking his head in disbelief._

"Ex-excuse me," Julie attempted to ask politely but she couldn't keep her eyes off of the young boy. He must be about five or six. "Your son's name is…K-Kuon?" she asked as the name itself carried a lot of heartache. The woman stared at her with a neutral expression. "My son's name…"

"I know your son's name was Kuon. That's who my little boy is named after," the woman said and Julie shut her mouth and nodded sadly. She didn't really want to talk about whether this woman had met her son. Names of celebrities were things people felt were fair use. It wasn't as if Kuon, or as she had jokingly said once 'Kuu-One' was a trademarked property.

"Thank you for keeping my son in your memories," Julie smiled softly as she looked at the little boy who was playing again. "I hope you have a good life, Kuon" she said as the name slid over her mouth, wounding her heart as she used it to someone else. She took deep breaths in and out to try to stay strong but she couldn't do it. Her eyes were filled with the heartbrokenness of losing ones child.

"He _will_ have a good life," the woman said as she brushed past Julie, " _My_ Kuon will live far longer than twenty-six years," she said and Julie shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. "After all, the only thing a child needs to make it into mature adulthood is caring and responsible parents." As she left, Julie felt her legs give out on her and she fell onto the floor. Her finger ran over the card case and she opened it again to look upon the son that she had lost.

She couldn't speak so she just allowed herself to cry. She had lost him because she hadn't been able to take care of one so precious.

 _Kuu made his way up to Julie as she stayed in the fetal position in the bed. The funeral had been a month ago and Julie still couldn't move. She worked with a doctor with phone conversations who was forcing her to spend two hours a day out of the bed so that she could clean the sheets and have something to eat. Nobody blamed her for this depression. They all knew how much she loved her son and how much she regretted that she let her job get in the way._

 _They had seen how happy she had been when he had returned years ago and how she had brought back so much confidence and drive that it had left the modeling world in flames with echoes of her name still heard on those runways. Now though it seemed as if her flame had burned out and she was much different than the beautiful goddess that she was known to be._

" _Hello, my precious Julienna," Kuu said gently to her as he smiled upon her, "Do you feel like coming downstairs? We don't have to do anything, just talk, there's a lot that we can talk about," he said. Kuu tried to talk softly but he was guilty of missing Kuon openly as well. He would carry around a figure of a bird that Kuon had made for him out of clay when he was a kid and Kuu had actually nearly had a panic attack just because he didn't have a black or dark grey accessory on him – though he did have a belt and that had calmed him down. Kuu knew that he had problems of his own that he had to face, but this woman in the bed looked like she was about to expire and he couldn't lose two of his family members._

" _He was right here," Julie said as she held to one of Kuon's favorite teddy bears from his childhood. She gestured to where her stomach would have been during her pregnancy. "I carried him in my body and kept him sa-sa-safe," she shivered and Kuu slipped in behind her and wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her in tight._

" _I know. You took great care of him. We were so lu-lucky to have him as long as we did," Kuu said as he tried hard not to break down. Julie shook again._

" _I remember when I woke up that night because he'd started kicking and I was so excited and you tried to record it on camera but it's not something that you can record," Julie laughed softly and Kuu nodded. "He was so energetic."_

" _He wanted to come out and be with his mother," Kuu tried to reassure her and Julie sobbed._

" _A mother who let him die at twenty-six," she said before rolling over and broke down into Kuu's chest as he tried to help her in the best way that he could._

Julie heard her phone ring in her pocket and despite not wanting to answer it, she pulled it out and looked at it. She read the name of her husband and smiled, he was the only man who could make her happy when she felt like this. He was the only man who could fill her mind with only the positive and happy memories of Kuon. She needed that today. "Hi, my love," she said as she picked up the phone, "How are you?"

"Jules, there's…" Kuu said softly, "Julie, can you come up to the office, there's something that you need to see."

"Kuu, I don't think I can today," Julie attempted to apologize. "My love you know that I would, but I don't think I'm strong enough to do it today. Could it possibly wait?"

"I think you'd regret waiting," Kuu said but before Julie could answer she heard a second, very familiar voice, _too familiar_ voice.

"If she's not feeling well then I'd prefer not to push her. Maybe I could see her tomo-" Kuon attempted to argue for his mother.

"Kuu, that voice," Julie said as her eyes widened with shock. "It sounds like…Kuu…what's going on? Talk to me?"

"Julie, I'm afraid that I'm going to pass you to somebody else," Kuu said as Julie opened her mouth to argue and felt a little unease as the other person took the phone.

"H-Hi…" the man said nervously as Julie noticed the anxiety in that scarily familiar voice.

"Is this a prank?" Julie asked before closing her eyes, "I swear to you that if this is a prank, you're going to have to answer to the entire entertainment world. My sweet baby boy isn't someone you get to joke around with."

"This isn't a joke, but I'm not - I, I don't know how to say it but I'm back and …" Kuu sighed. "Can you come down to the president's office, this is going to be easier to talk about in person."

Julie felt her heart beat burning in her chest but she shook her head, "No. If you want to talk to me, you're going to have to find me. I'm on first floor office 3A," she said.

"Okay," the man said before hanging up. Good, if this was a joke then she wouldn't have to move and she could just hide with a box of tissues. She would know her son if he was there in front of her even with a disguise on. She sat down and waited.

After about ten minutes, Julie heard a knock on the door. "You can come in," she called out before seeing a hooded person enter. She stared at him for a moment before he took the hood down and looked at her nervously.

"Hi," Kuon whispered and was surprised when Julie started hyperventilating and then fainted.

He managed to catch her head just in time.

 **End Chapter Four**

 **AN2:** Thank you to everyone who reads and supports this fic. I'm wondering if I'm the only one who actually physically cried with this chapter :/ Special shoutout to reviewers of Chapter Three: **brennakai, PaulaGaTo, RichkeyZero**


	5. Chapter 5 - Too Much At Once

**AN:** Enjoy. This fic is fun to write so I hope to update faster next time, thank you for choosing to read it.

 **Chapter Five – Too Much at Once**

Once he had made sure that his mother hadn't hurt her head, Kuon managed to grab a seat cushion and put it behind her head before taking a few steps backwards. He shouldn't be here. He hadn't wanted to cause distress or confusion. Here didn't feel right. He knew it was LME but in his mind all he could come up with LME six years ago. Everything was so different.

As he backed up, he felt two hands one on each shoulder and he flinched. He took a few careful steps backwards so that he was against the wall and then could see his father looking at him so worried about him. "M-m-mom, you should ch-check," he stumbled over his words as he put the hoodie back on.

"She's alright," Kuu said as he tried to face Kuon eye to eye, he could see his son panicking. "I promise you she'll be alright but…what's happening? Can you tell me that? What are you feeling right now?"

"Scared," Kuon said as he looked at his father before bowing his head so that his face couldn't be seen. "I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't -"

"Kuon," Kuu tried as he reached out to the man he had spent nearly six years believing was dead. He was hesitant to touch him with how much Kuon was flinching and shaking. He seemed so distraught and if this was anyone other than Kuon, Kuu would have let them run and flee from the situation.

"Kuon, please, can you sit?" Kuu said as he got out a chair and held it to his son. "Just sit down and I'll check on your mother and then we can all talk or I can get you something to drink or…" Kuu sighed before gesturing to the chair, "Please sit down. Would either of us ever hurt you?" he asked and Kuon shook his head, taking the seat and looking absolutely terrified of being there.

Kuu closed his eyes and then went over to Julie. He pulled her into his lap and kissed her softly until she woke up. "Hello there, my beautiful angel," Kuu said as he held Julie's hand. "Sit up slowly, okay? The last thing we need is for the blood to rush to your head," he said as he kissed her and Julie felt tears in her eyes.

"I saw him Kuu," she said as Kuon shifted in the chair and Kuu looked over at him for a moment to make sure he wasn't leaving. "I heard his voice. I saw him…" she said and Kuu smiled softly. "I know you think that -"

"Julie," Kuu said as he helped her get to her feet and then made sure to stand beside her with his arm around her waist as she looked over to the hooded figure. Julie started to cry again, her hands flying up to cover her mouth as she saw him looking down timidly.

"It can't be," she whispered. "Kuu! Make it go away," she said as Kuu saw Kuon tense up and get ready to stand up, Kuu shook his head and begged Kuon with his eyes not to leave. "I don't want it. Make it go away," Julie said. "It's haunting me."

"No, no it's okay, it's okay," Kuu attempted to hush her so that he could take better care of her. "That _is_ who you think it is. That _is_ Kuon."

"No! I don't want to be tricked anymore, Kuu. I don't want to listen to your lies about how I was a good mother, it's my fault that Kuon is dead, I just don't want to be reminded of that fact anymore," she said as Kuu wrapped his arms around her and tried to pay her his full attention.

"Julie, you know as well as I that there are some strange things that don't make sense in this world. There could be fairies and enchantments and all sorts of paranormal activity and the fact is that Kuon is back. I don't know how but -" there was a pause as Kuu heard the door close. He turned his head immediately and saw the empty chair.

"Can you sit?" he asked his wife as she watched him not knowing what to do, "Just…just sit and I'll be back very very soon," he said. Julie shakily nodded and Kuu bolted out the door trying to look for his son. It was best if they did this in a controlled way where they could all sit down together. He had lost his son before, he wasn't going to lose him a second time.

As he surveyed the area, Kuu caught sight of the hooded man and with his long strides managed to catch up with him. "Hey," he said as he tried to look at Kuon, seeing how tortured his face looked up close. "Hey, just…just stop," he said desperately. "I don't want to say your name, but please just…let's talk about this, create a game plan. You know how we used to play those hypothetical strategy games when you were a kid, we need to think up a plan right now."

"Why did you leave her?" Kuon asked as he just stopped and Kuu felt his heart beat less painfully as he did so.

"Because I _know_ that she'll be okay. I don't know if there's something that is stopping you from disappearing. I don't know how you got here but I know that I don't want to lose you again. Please, just stay?" Kuu begged as tears came back into his eyes. "You're my son. Even if you're from another dimension or timeline, you're my kid and that's not going to change. I know that everything must feel wro-"

"It's how I would imagine waking up from a coma but with the world believing you to be dead," Kuon said as Kuu nodded weakly. "I don't feel safe here, D-Dad" he whispered and Kuu nodded again.

"Then let me help make you feel safe again. We'll work on it together, I'm sure that Kyoko would want to help too. Did you want to go to the doctor? Have a checkup? I can reschedule so that I can take you right now," Kuu said trying to prioritize his son because his son was so much more important than nearly everything else. Unfortunately, it had taken his son's 'death' to really account for Kuon's importance.

"I don't know. I really don't know," he said before following his father back into the LME building. "I just want to sleep," he said and Kuu nodded.

"Come on, you can come up to my office and just take a nap on the sofa," he offered willing to give his son anything that he might need. He took one more look at him and texted Julie that she should come up to his office. He didn't want to scare her, but he knew how much happier his two most important people would be if they accepted the other.

Once inside the office, Kuu gestured to the sofa and Kuon took off his shoes before removing the hoody and looked at his father nervously. "You take as much time as you need," Kuu said as he let his hand run over Kuon's hair and then placed a hand on his shoulder, taking his son in. "Kyoko should be here soon, nobody else will disturb you."

"Are you sure it's okay?" Kuon said anxiously, he still saw the disbelief in his father's eyes as if such a thing should never actually happen.

"Go ahead, I'll make sure nobody gets in who shouldn't be here," he said and Kuon nervously got down onto the sofa and closed his eyes to take a nap. Once he was asleep, Kuu grabbed a blanket and tucked him in.

"I love you, son," he said to the younger blond. Maybe he needed some time to adjust but miracles _did_ happen.

…..

…..

Kyoko took down a few notes before she and Yashiro got to her car. She looked at him, knowing the question that was on his mind already. Over the years she had learned how easy he was to read as long as you landed on the subject area. This time though, it was even easier. "I'm not going to let you see him," she told her friend and manager. "I thought about going to see Lory later but I don't want to put too much pressure on him. He's still adjusting."

"So," Yashiro hummed, "You're saying that he's come back as a twenty-six-year-old?"

"I'm saying that he's still twenty-six and it scares him how everything is different and he can't remember any of it," she said. "I'm not going to scare him any more than he already is. Imagine if you were the same age and yet Kuon was five years older than you, it would be too much to take in."

"Before today, I thought he was dead so it's hard to make that comparison," Yashiro argued as Kyoko sighed.

"It's hard for me to know that I'm older than him now but when I ask myself if that makes a difference, I would have to say no. It's strange to think that I've been acting longer than he has and that I have more work and experience under my belt, it's weird to think that he hasn't been in Isabella's life for six years and yet was technically nowhere." Kyoko looked down. "I finally got my husband back, I don't want to scare him off again."

As Kyoko and Yashiro were speaking a girl came up to them, she looked like a warrior in a comic book. She had tattoos down her arms and was wearing what an Athenian female athlete might have worn. It was as if she had appeared directly from Themyscira.

The woman walked up to Kyoko and got down on her knee in a formal bow as Yashiro looked at her stunned. "You are Kyoko Hizuri, correct?" the woman asked with a slight middle eastern accent. "These clothes are for training purposes only. I have come as a messenger for my people."

Kyoko shared a look with Yashiro and then looked at the woman again. Kyoko felt her heart beat out of her chest. "Yes," she said nervously but honestly. "Is there something that I can assist you with?"

"Great honorable Kyoko," the woman continued. "You are the wife of Kuon Hizuri?"

Kyoko nodded weakly and the woman reached out for her. This was strange but if it had to do with Kuon's disappearing act then she wanted to learn. If this was a messenger from a group of people who had saved her husband then she wanted to know what was going on. "Yes, I am. Are you here to tell me about what happened to him?" she asked and the woman nodded.

"I must speak to you alone," she said as Kyoko shot a look back at Yashiro who put his hands up to gesture that he wouldn't get involved.

"I'll wait for you in the car, Kyoko," he said as Kyoko nodded and followed the woman in front of her. She didn't really know what to say so she would let the woman speak first. She faced her and the woman looked around nervously.

"You must promise to not tell anyone including Kuon," the woman said. "We need you to keep our secret."

"You saved my husband. You kept him safe and able to return here," Kyoko said with a hand to her heart, "I owe you so much. Of course, I will keep anything that you tell me secret," she said as the woman explained what was going on and Kyoko paused as she listened. It made sense but she had never dreamed that such a thing would be possible. She opened her mouth to speak but no words could come out as she learned about something only appearing in myths and legends.

"What are the side effects?" Kyoko asked, "Can you tell me that?"

The woman placed a finger to her mouth, "You will find out, but you must never discuss this information with anyone."

Kyoko nodded. She couldn't believe it.

There really was a fountain of youth.

 **End of Chapter Five**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Special Thanks to Reviewers of Chapter Four**

Brennakai, Crazy4Animation, Kris, PaulaGaTo, RichkeyZero


	6. Chapter 6 - Family

**AN:** Thank you for choosing to read this story. I hope that people enjoy it.

 **Chapter Six - Family**

As Kyoko came back to Kuu's office with Isabella by her side, she watched as her daughter ran up to her grandmother and hugged her. Julie was sitting very still and seemed to be counting the number of seconds between every inhale and every exhale her son took to make sure that he was alive. Kyoko saw Kuu looking over some paperwork but every few moments he would gaze at Kuon and then get back to work.

"How did it go?" Kyoko asked as she came to kneel down in front of the sleeping blond. She watched him with tears in her eyes. She still couldn't believe how lucky she was to have him back with her.

"There were some bumps but it worked out," Kuu nodded. "He's been asleep for a little under an hour."

Kyoko smiled before reaching out to him, she allowed her hand to slip through the blond strands of hair. She knew that internally, her husband, though with refreshed health biologically, was thirty-two but due to the water that had kept him alive, he had the physical body of a twenty-six-year-old. It would be a slow progression for him to show that age. According to what she had been told, he would have a lengthy life and she would grow old in front of him.

She had to admit, that terrified her. If Kuon looked thirty and she looked sixty or seventy, would he still find her attractive enough to be with her. Did her looks really matter to him that much? She gazed upon him knowing that she would never break her promise. They had kept him alive. For that, there was nothing she could do which would ever be enough to repay them.

Isabella grinned up at her grandmother, "I'm excited that I get to have a daddy," she whispered to Julie who hugged her close and kissed the top of her head. "I get to see if he's just like mommy and you and grandpa say."

"I think he's _more_ wonderful than that," Julie said with tears in her eyes as she watched her children.

Kyoko smiled as she saw Kuon's eyes slowly open. "Hi, my sweet Corn," she said gently. She didn't want to make him afraid any longer. He had been through so much.

"Hi," Kuon said as he took her in and placed a hand on her cheek. "I'm really sorry," he apologized as Kyoko looked at him confused. "I left you alone. I know how much you don't like being left alone. I didn't mean to -"

"Oh sweetheart," Kyoko said softly, "I know you wouldn't do that. I'm sorry too, I'm sorry we stopped looking for you. If I had known where you were, I never would have stopped trying to get there. You have nothing to apologize for."

"Can we -" Kuon said weakly before looking up and closing his eyes. He didn't want to be around people right now, he didn't want to be around the media or technology, he didn't want to be on streets that he once recognized but had transformed in the six years.

"Corn?" the red-haired woman asked as she watched him. She wasn't sure what he wanted to say but she knew that if there was anything that she could get for him, she wanted to be able to. "What is it? What do you need?"

"I need more clothes," he told her and Kyoko nodded. Of course, he did.

"Father," Kyoko said as she looked up at Kuu and he nodded as he stood up. "Did you want to pick something out or -" she started to ask Kuon but he shook his head. She leaned forwards and kissed his forehead. "Okay, I'll pick them out." She looked up at Kuu as he got her the key to where they had the clothes Lory had kept for the agency as well as some new pieces that Julie had added for the actors to use. "I'll be back soon. Isabella, do you want to come with me?" she asked knowing how much her daughter loved looking through the agency's clothing room.

Isabella shook her head, "I want to stay here with Daddy."

"Will that be okay with you?" Kyoko asked her husband. She didn't want to overwhelm him right now. She saw his hesitancy and knew that he was trying not to show his fear with his daughter. "Are you thinking that you do want to come with me?" she asked and Kuon gave a weak smile.

"Would that be okay?" he asked her as Isabella pouted.

"I want to come too," she said as Kyoko looked between them and then concentrated on Kuon. She watched him and placed a hand on his cheek. "It's alright. Remember all those times when you promised me that it would work out for the best. Remember those nights when I couldn't get to sleep because I was worried and you would hold me and tell me that you love me until I fell asleep. I promise you that it'll be alright," she told him as Kuon concentrated on her eyes and nodded.

"Let's go as the three of us," he told her and Kyoko stood up, helping him off the couch and took the hoody from Kuu who had brought it to them. She passed it to him and watched as he slipped into it, covering his face so that nobody would be able to report on him being back. Whenever that happened, the press would explode and that was too much for both of them.

Taking his hand, Kyoko reached for Isabella with her other but saw the young girl grab hold of her father's. She was already accepting him despite how long he had been gone from their lives. Hopefully this would work out without any problems.

…..

…..

"I always love you in this style," Kyoko said as she stood in front of Kuon who was wearing a formal black shirt and black pants that were his size. She tried to put a tie around his neck lovingly as she caught him looking around a little wary. She hadn't seen this expression much, but then he had never been in a coma before and he had never been kept alive by water of the fountain of youth. "Tell me if this is too tight," she said as she put the red tie on him.

"It's fine," Kuon told her as he felt empty. He looked across at Isabella who was wearing the costume of a Disney princess. Kyoko looked over as well and then leaned up so she could kiss his lips. Was he ever going to be able to settle down and accept the world in the way it changed? "Kyoko, whatever you want to choose will be okay."

Kyoko looked at him and reached up as she gazed up at the man she could never fall out of love with. She looked around before pulling out a few more hoodies so that he could keep his identity secret. She knew that was important to him. "I'm going to get you some pajamas," she told him, "they are still packaged. Kuu keeps them here for emergencies," she said before finding a green sweater and she pulled it out. She needed to make sure that he had enough to last until he was ready to go out.

She turned back to see Kuon kneeling down with Isabella.

"Are you having fun?" he asked her and Kyoko smiled, he was trying his hardest to be a good dad.

"Yeah! I love princesses!" Isabella smiled as she spun around in the yellow dress from the character she was half named after. "Mommy says that you're just like her prince. I'm glad that she has her prince back."

Kuon nodded, "I try because Mommy is a princess. I'm sure that Mommy watches all the Disney princess movies with you," he said and Isabella smiled happily as she nodded.

"I like doing a lot with Mommy. She taught me how to cook," she said as Kuon smiled.

"She taught me how to cook as well. I was a bad cook before I met her. My food was really bad, it was hard to eat," he said as Isabella giggled.

"I've burnt lots of food but Mommy taught me how not to burn things," she told him and Kuon smiled.

"I think that we share that in common. If it wasn't for Mommy then we might have burnt water," he looked over to Kyoko who had tears in her eyes. "Kyoko?" he asked as Kyoko attempted to brush away the tears.

"I'm okay," she said as she realized how much she had felt pain watching Isabella grow up without her father over the years. She had tried not to think about it. Her house had never had a mother and a father and her mother wasn't much of a mother at all. A happy family with two parents and a child was something that she had only observed before. She really wanted to go back in time and give Isabella the amazing father that Kuon would have been in her early years.

"Are you sure?" Kuon asked before Isabella ran over to hug her.

Kyoko gathered the little girl into her arms, "I'm so happy that you're here and that we're together," she said seeing Kuon weakly smile. "I love you two so so much," she said as she tried to blink away more tears.

"I'm happy that Daddy's back too," Isabella said as Kyoko nodded.

"I'm going to get changed into the hoody and some of the more casual clothes," he told her as he turned to go back to the changing room and Kyoko smiled as she placed a hand on his back.

"I love you," she told him as she tried hard not to grab him, she kept her hand flat against his back. She pulled back as he looked at her.

"I love you too," he said as he left her sight.

Kyoko took some deep breaths in and out and then looked down at her little girl. "Let's get these clothes for Daddy into some bags so we can take them home for him," she said before starting to do so. She looked back at Isabella who was trying her best to help. Kyoko reached for her and pulled her into her chest. "Thank you so much for being so nice to him," Kyoko said as she looked at the blonde girl. "He really wants to be a good dad to you so thank you for being such a good girl."

Isabella blinked hard, "I wanted Daddy so much. I wished for it," she said with a large grin.

After they had bagged everything, Kyoko saw Kuon come back in and stood to take his hand. "Are you ready to go back?" she asked before Kuon nodded and picked Isabella up in his arms, trying to hold her as close and be as protective as possible. "Let's go home," she told them as she opened the door and walked down the corridor. Her eyes widened as she looked at another blond who had been seeking her out.

"Sho?" she asked as she saw him looking twenty-five. How come he looked as if he had aged when Kuon didn't. She looked back at her husband before staring at the blond that was in front of them. "How are you?" she asked.

"I heard your husband had died," Shou said to her, looking at her as if he wanted to comfort her and Kyoko looked at him confused.

"I heard that _you_ had died," she replied as Isabella cuddled closer to her father.

 **End of Chapter Six**

 **Thank you for reviewing**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Five**

Brennakai, Kris, paulagato, RichkeyZero


	7. Chapter 7 - Newer Old Faces

**AN:** There's some things going on in my life which will make updates slow and I'm going to be updating some fics more than others. My apologies but I'm using writing as a way to get emotions out for me. I hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter Seven – Newer Old Faces**

As Sho stood in front of them, Kyoko staring at him in disbelief at how he looked older but not naturally older. So, he had had the same treatment too but maybe the water wasn't as strong? Maybe they knew how much better Kuon was and used a purer form on him. She wasn't sure.

"So what the crap happened to you?" Shou asked as he looked at the woman in front of him. "Everything is totally messed up. It's like the future," he leaned in closer. "You don't seem as shocked as everyone else."

Kyoko blinked before her eyes widened, "no, no I'm just trying to come to terms with this because you could just be an impersonator. As far as I remember, Sho Fuwa passed away six years ago," she said with tears in her eyes. She had to choose whether to act or not and she chose to. Acting would at least save Kuon from the world finding out a little longer.

"I'm not a Sho impersonator," Sho pointed to himself and Kyoko saw her husband turn away with his head bowed so Shou had no chance of seeing under that hood. Isabella looked between the three adults very confused.

Kuon chose to speak in English in a New York accent so that Sho wouldn't recognize his voice. "[How about the two of you talk and maybe I can get Isabella something to eat]?" he asked Kyoko who turned to face him. She tried to smile and reached out for his hand.

"[Take care of yourself, okay?]" she asked nervously as he nodded and then she saw him leave as Isabella cuddled against her father. Kyoko smiled after them before facing Sho. "How are you back here?" she asked before Shou rolled his eyes.

"You mean, why am I not still in the jungle?" he asked her and Kyoko tilted her head to the side completely confused by what he had just said. When Kuon had come back, he had apparently been given a plane ride and then a car ride where a woman safely escorted him to the home where she lived in. Did Sho piss them off so much they just dumped him somewhere so that they wouldn't have to deal with him. The idea of that was very pleasing to her.

"You were in a jungle, you look like you haven't aged much so those mud baths must have been working for you," she said as she raised an eyebrow. "Look, I would love to help you but I think that the media is more excited to have you back and I don't want you to tread on my fame," she said as she realized that she _had_ missed him and she had worried about him. There were many positive memories that she had kept of him but the pain of losing Sho was only really triggered when she was with his parents. It was because the pain of losing Kuon had cast a shadow over so much else that she hadn't had time to think.

"That was your daughter with that guy?" Sho said as Kyoko looked at him confused.

"Could you please explain further what you're talking about. It doesn't make sense to me if you continue to use vague terms like those," Kyoko sighed. She should at least hear the guy out but she wanted to be with Kuon and Isabella. She wanted to make sure that Kuon was dealing with everything alright. "I'm rather busy as I'm a successful celebrity."

"Not that man with the hood on, I've seen everywhere that Hizuri died," he said before looking up, "but sure, that was Hizuri's kid with some guy."

"Yes," Kyoko nodded. "The man I'm with. Now, is there any other way that I can help you, take you to the hospital maybe?"

Shou sighed and looked at her. "You look like an old hag," he said and the actress rolled her eyes.

"Well you look like you just came back from the dead," she turned to leave. There were much more important things to figure out than why they had decided to save someone like Sho. She had to admit though that she was a little glad that they had helped more people than just the man who stood above all others in his importance.

….

….

Kuon was walking along with Isabella in his arms when he felt the little girl try to jump down, he let her but made sure she was safely on the ground. He tried to stand to the side so that nobody could really notice that he was there. He needed to just stand to the side and make sure that Isabella wasn't going to get hurt.

He took deep breaths and closed his eyes as he heard her call out, "Uncle Yashiro!" she giggled and Kuon's eyes widened as he turned to look at the man who was approaching his middle age years. He tried to stiffen up so that Yashiro wouldn't see him. "Hi," she giggled.

"Hey there," Yashiro smiled as he picked the little girl up in his arms, "How's my favorite little princess Isabella?" he asked her and the girl laughed loudly.

"I met my Daddy today," she said before putting a finger to her lips as Yashiro gave a weak smile and looked around. Fortunately, Kuon was blocked from his view.

"Your mother told me something like that," Yashiro told her. "She said that he came back to be with you. Your father is a strong, kind, brave, and very talented man. Did you come down here with him?" he asked as he looked around again.

"Yeah! I think he's hiding from you," Isabella whispered into the manager's ear. "He's scared a lot but I think he was gone somewhere for a long time. When I go somewhere new, I feel scared."

"Oh, if that's the case, I'll see him when he's got the courage to speak to me," Yashiro said but Isabella hopped down again and pulled Yashiro's hand to where he stood opposite the hidden man and Yashiro looked at him with a confused expression. "Hi," he said before seeing the hooded man bow and caught a glimpse of his face.

"It's been a long time," he said as he looked around. "I'm trying not to draw too much attention to myself," he said as Yashiro nodded. He knew that this voice was his but it still was unbelievable to him that Kuon had returned.

"I don't blame you, you coming back from the dead would be the biggest story that the media has covered in some time," Yashiro said as Kuon sighed and looked away.

"I don't know. I don't think I can handle that on top of everything else right now, can I just say that I am very thankful I told you to go ahead of me," Kuon told his former manager. "I'm glad that you weren't on that flight."

"I'm glad that you seem to have somehow survived," Yashiro nodded. "Call me if you need anything, okay? As much as I would want to just go sit in an office and -"

"Maybe another time," Kuon said before shaking his head, "No, definitely another time. This is my first day back so…"

"I get it," Yashiro smiled trying to stop himself from flying into a comic book sense of hyper delightedness. He knew that that would just draw attention to the situation and understandably that was something Kuon was trying his best to avoid.

"Hey," Kyoko said as she came towards the three of them, she looked at Yashiro with a weak smile. "I think it's best for the three of us to go home. I'll see you soon," she said to Yashiro before bowing. She saw Kuon look at him and then give a nod as he followed after Kyoko. Yashiro had no idea how he would start to break the news but maybe Kuu had some ideas on it.

….

….

Isabella smiled up at her mother after she and Kyoko had read a princess book together, each taking turns with the pages. Isabella had such hope in her eyes. "Do you think Daddy's going to read to me as well?" she asked and Kyoko smiled.

"I'm sure he'd love to," Kyoko told her, "He's the one who taught me the most about acting, I think that he just needs his rest. He's been through so much," Kyoko kissed the top of her daughter's head. "My amazing Isabella, trust me, you'll soon know how nobody can compete with your father."

"Good night, mama" Isabella yawned as she snuggled into her bed and Kyoko kissed her forehead.

"Good night, my little princess," she said before going out of the room and closing the door most of the way before going back to the bedroom. She saw Kuon looking at the bed and laughed, "I couldn't get used to a smaller size," she told him. "I usually put a body pillow there," she pointed to the end and Kuon looked at her.

"Is it really okay that I sleep with you?" he asked her and Kyoko came to sit next to him.

"Why wouldn't it be?" she asked as she took his hand and held it in hers. "This is going to be the first night in a very long time where I get to be with you. I want to know that this whole day isn't me going crazy. I want to know that I'll wake up and you'll be here," she looked at him lovingly. "Kuon, are _you_ okay. I can't imagine how rough today has been on you sweetheart," she said as she placed a hand on his cheek. "My sweet Corn."

Kuon looked down as he tried to get his thoughts together.

"Corn, are you alright?" Kyoko asked nervously as she let her head rest on his shoulder. She wrapped an arm around him and moved in closer. "I know it's so much but I'm happy you're here, we're all happy you're here with us. You are so so loved, Kuon."

Kuon nodded, "You don't think I'm too young for you, do you?" he asked and Kyoko laughed and shook her head.

"I love you but it is interesting, you were always so worried that you were _older_ than me," she said before looking into his eyes as they shared a mutual unconditional love. Kyoko ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. She really did love him and she knew how he would age very slowly now, however, that was the trade off for him being alive. She felt tears in her eyes. "I never really understood what love was before you and how cold and lonely the world felt with you gone so whatever you need, I love you."

"I'm sorry," Kuon whispered and Kyoko shook her head.

"We'll figure it all out tomorrow," she took a step out of the room. "Want to come downstairs, talk a little about what you want to do with the rest of the week?" she asked. This was almost like a miracle, she was seeing her dead husband alive and sitting in _their_ bedroom. She wanted to make sure he was kept safe for as long as possible.

She only wished that she could age alongside of him even if that meant having a much longer life.

 **End of Chapter Seven**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you to reviewers of Chapter Six:**

Kris and PaulaGaTo


	8. Chapter 8 - Visiting Friends

**AN:** As I told people in another fic of mine, I'm currently suffering from a head injury that gave me a bit of a concussion. I'm not sure if I'm still in concussion or if I'm post concussion but I have a deep blue bruise on my head. Because of this updates will be slow but I hope you enjoy them.

 **Chapter Eight – Visiting Friends**

Kuon looked around at the house nervously. He shouldn't have come out alone but he felt that he needed to at least do this on his own. Now he was regretting it. He took another deep breath in, why had he changed his mind from what he had first decided to do? Why was he regretting coming here?

Okay, he really shouldn't be here. He looked down and tightened the hoody as he walked by their trash can. He shouldn't have come here, what was he even planning on saying to him? He had suspected that Kyoko would have called but what if he had just parked at the wrong house? How would he explain that he was a dead celebrity who just happened to reappear and had been given the wrong address.

"Damn," he whispered before looking up to see a woman looking at him. He froze. How was he going to explain this without the woman calling the police on him.

"Nice choice of word," the woman said as she seemed to study him. "Are you our guest for the evening?" she asked and Kuon looked at her. Was this the time when his journey to see his old friend turned into a murder mystery.

"I…" Kuon said weakly before dropping into a bow, "I apologize for my presence here," he said quickly and the woman approached him.

"I'm Yukihito Diana," the woman said as Kuon at least felt a little relief, "from your height I'm thinking that neither the media or Yashiro exaggerated much about your appearance." Diana said as Kuon felt himself a little relieved and looked around before lowering the hoody nervously.

"I really do apologize," he said weakly as the wind blew through his hair. "Listen, if there's any chance of us keeping this quiet then -"

"Of course. Your wife and I share something in common, Hizuri-san," she said as she noticed his awkwardness. "A belief in fairytales and the unknown, though I'm more into dragons than fairies."

"You don't seem at all phased about me being here," Kuon said as he pointed to himself and looked away nervously.

"First of all, Kyoko and Yashiro both told me about you returning and second, I have an amazing poker face but with the clients that I see, you have to possess one," Diana said before gesturing for Kuon to follow her through the side gate. "Honey! Your surprise visitor is -"

"It's really good to see you," Yashiro said excitedly as he grinned happily. "It's like," he continued to grin and chuckled putting a hand to the table. "So, you've had everyone worried for years but I thought that if anyone could find a way it would -" Yashiro shook his head, "It is really great to see you. I'm sure that Kyoko's thrilled and…this sort of thing doesn't normally happen outside of Kyoko's head."

"That's what I was trying to say," Kuon said weakly as he stood there. "I'm not really sure what's -"

"It's so great to see you back" Yashiro said as he looked like he was about to cry. "You have no idea how much we've all missed you and your stubborn head and it's just…you've probably missed a lot of things with Kyoko too," he said as he raised an eyebrow and Kuon shrugged.

"I don't really know about that. I just feel like I'm in some kind of weird version of reality," he looked at Yashiro and smiled, "I'd thought you'd have an even bigger reaction to my return."

"Trust me, if I wasn't still in shock at seeing you here in front of me, I would be," he said as he looked him over. "Despite everything, you look….well, healthy, like you haven't -"

"—aged a day. I've been getting that a lot," he said as Yashiro's wife got him a roll that she had baked and a packet of butter before starting some tea. "I'm sorry, I haven't really introduced myself to your wife who I've never met before. How long have you two -"

"It's alright, Hizuri-san," Diana said as she raised a teasing eyebrow to her husband with a playful smile on her face.

"Ku-Kuon please…" Kuon said weakly before looking down. This was a nice home that the two of them had and he had a feeling there were more than the two of them who lived here.

"Kuon-san," Diana smiled, "As I said before, I'm Yukihito Diana, but please feel free to call me Diana. I was the therapist that Yashiro went to nearly six years ago. We got married two years later and we have two children."

"I—I'm sorry that I missed all of that," Kuon quickly apologized, he felt selfish about doing so. "If I could have -"

"I know, there's still many more moments that you won't miss now, okay?" Yashiro tried to say calmly as he saw Kuon blaming himself. He shared a look with his wife who then set two cups of hot tea in front of them. It was really shocking to see Kuon this way. It was like that story Rip Van Winkle where he fell asleep on top of a mountain and then returned to see that the town he had lived in and the residents had aged but he hadn't. At least Kuon had only missed six years.

Kuon lifted his head as he heard a child crying and Diana smiled as she left.

"That's one of your children?" he asked as he turned his head to look in the direction Yashiro's life had left in.

"That's probably my son, he's two and a half, it's amazing how fast they grow up," Yashiro said before seeing Kuon give a very weak smile as he thought about the time that he had missed with Isabella. "Kuon -" Yashiro said hesitantly.

"What's his name?" Kuon asked as he took a sip of the tea.

Yashiro looked down and took his glasses off, running a hand over them as if very sleepy. "Ren Yukihito," he told his friend as Kuon turned to him with a shocked look which turned into a guilty smile. "I know that it was a trend shortly after you died to name your child Ren or Kuon, but I think I earned the right to. A lot of people didn't know you but I wanted to name my kid after you, after the memories, and being a therapist, Diana agreed. Besides, we both really liked the name."

"I'm honored," Kuon said honestly. He looked over to where Diana had left. "What type of child is he?"

"Well, he's very shy but that also leads him to be brave when needed. He works as hard as you always did and he loves drawing and playing pretend," Yashiro smiled as he thought about his kid. "Have you thought about what you want to do next? Have you talked to your father about returning to LME?"

"I've spoken to him," Kuon nodded, "I think I need some time away from the camera right now. After I've settled, I'm going to try to reenter the acting field. I know that he would never have called the agency KME or changed the name at all. How's Lory doing?" Kuon asked nervously.

"He's as well as can be expected," Yashiro sighed, "He's got dementia issues which knowing how he was before…"

"Understandable," Kuon nodded. "I hope I can go see him soon. I should probably head back soon, I just wanted to see you, wanted to talk to you. I borrowed Kyoko's car to come here because I don't have one of my own."

"It's amazing to see you again, Kuon," Yashiro nodded as he saw Kuon take a bite of the food placed in front of him. "We should do something together. I know that Kyoko wanted to set up a double date but I think that the two of us should do something alone."

"Sounds nice," Kuon nodded, "I'd like to wait until the world is ready to accept that I'm not dead."

"I agree," he nodded. "It is good to see you, you look…"

"Young?" Kuon asked as Yashiro laughed.

"I was going to say healthy but yes, you do look young," Yashiro smiled as he enjoyed the rest of the evening's conversation with the friend that he had missed very very much.

…

…

Kyoko smiled as she saw the car pull into the driveway. She had been a little concerned when Kuon had decided that he couldn't sleep at ten o'clock and she knew that the Yukihitos would welcome him at any time. However, she was a little scared that one moment he would be here with her and then the next moment that she would rush out and see that the car was still there and that the man was a fantasy of all of theirs.

She quickly opened the door for him as she saw him walk up to the house, "Hi," she smiled as she saw him lower the hood and she ran over to him. She flung her arms around him and smiled as she managed to take in the scent that was her husband. "How did it go?" she asked as she saw his awkward expression.

"Sweetheart, why don't you come into the house?" she asked as she let her fingers move through the blond hair that she had missed so much. "My Sweet Corn," she teased him as he looked away sadly. "Corn, what is it? What's wrong?" she asked nervously.

"I've missed so much," he said sadly, "I haven't been there for everybody. I don't know where I've been but I should have been here."

"Are you talking about Yashiro?" Kyoko asked nervously. "It's alright. Nobody blames you for this and there's still a lot of events that you get to look forward to. We're not angry with you, we're really relieved that you're here."

"I should have been there for you. I should have raised my daughter alongside you," he told her and Kyoko could see his body shaking. As much as she wanted to tell him the story of how he had been rescued from the wreckage of the plane, how they had managed to see that he was a good and worthy cause, how he had survived because of medicine and the use of the fountain of youth. How he had that elixir inside of him even now and it had affect his body's chemistry. She wanted to tell him all of this, but she couldn't. She had promised. If she was linked to somebody telling the press all of this then they had told her that they had ways of taking her husband out.

It was worth keeping the secret so that Kuon could stay alive.

"Maybe we could…have another child?" Kyoko asked nervously as Kuon looked away, he didn't want to admit that he liked the idea because he had promised never to pressure Kyoko into anything concerning their relationship. "I mean, it might be good to have another child and one that we could raise together."

"Would that hurt Isabella?" Kuon asked her, "Seeing a child with both his or her mother and father when I've been absent for such a long period of _her_ life."

"She doesn't blame you or hold any angry feelings towards you, Kuon, she's really excited that she gets to have you in her life starting from now," Kyoko told him before taking his hand and trying to lead him inside the house. "Come on, sweetheart, come talk to me inside?"

Kuon nodded but once he had stepped inside, he looked his wife over.

"Are you angry with me?" he asked her and Kyoko shook her head. She took a step over to him and put her hands on his cheeks before kissing him passionately.

"Never," she assured him as the tears sparkled in her eyes.

"Kyoko, you're crying, princess," he said as he tried to brush away her tears and Kyoko instantly pressed her head into his chest.

"You can never understand how happy I am that you're here, Kuon. I thought I lost my prince. I thought that I would never see you again. You have no idea how much I wished and hoped that the fairies, that a god, that _anything_ would bring you back to me. I've never felt more helpless and alone, but I made it work. I made it work because every day I could see you telling me about my strength, my guts, my talent, how amazing I always am to you. Even if you weren't here physically, you were never gone from my heart or my memories. You kept me living, Kuon."

Kuon wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. He knew how true these words were to her, he just had to believe in them himself.

 **End of Chapter Eight**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Seven**

Brennakai, Crazy4Animation, Kris, and paulagato


	9. Chapter 9 - A New Day

**AN:** Hope you guys enjoy this 😊 I always have fun writing this fic despite it not being one of my most popular, I hope you enjoy it as well.

 **Chapter Nine – A New Day**

Kuon woke up early the next morning and looked around the strange bedroom. He felt lonely as he realized just how much he didn't have. Of course, he couldn't blame anyone that his belongings were mostly gone. It was part of the healing process to get rid of items from the deceased _especially_ those who had been dead for years. Still, it felt lonely and as if he was in this world alone. He still had to come to terms with it.

As he sat there though, he saw Kyoko break down into tears and looked across at her nervously. "Kuon," she whispered as she pushed her head into the pillow. "Kuon, please come back. Please. I'm sorry. I'll…Kuon, please don't leave me."

Kuon looked over at his wife. He wondered how often she had dreams about him. Well, if things were switched and she was the one who had passed away he would have nightmares about losing her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and then tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. She was so beautiful. She had matured into such a gorgeous woman.

As he touched her, she reached out for him and then opened her eyes. She looked at him in shock before crying more as she came to understand what had happened the previous day. She hadn't understood why he was there before. She was so thankful that she hadn't been dreaming him into existence and that there was such a thing as the fountain of youth.

She sat up and threw her arms around him as she let herself sob but this time there was some happiness and relief in her tears. "Thank you," she whispered as she pushed her forehead onto his shoulder. "Thank you for coming back."

"Do you often -" Kuon began to ask but Kyoko craned her neck up and pressed kisses to his lips which made him stop talking. Once she had pulled away, Kuon looked over at the alarm clock which was six and gazed upon his wife. "Is it okay if I turn the light on?" he asked and Kyoko nodded whilst trying to brush away her tears.

Kuon stood and walked across the room to get to the light whilst Kyoko had her arms wrapped around herself. She smiled as she blinked in the light and was able to see him standing there. She still had trouble thinking about how lucky she was. Her husband had come back. He hadn't died. She hadn't lost the love of her life.

"I was thinking that…" Kuon said before looking down. He wasn't sure what to think. He didn't have any money or any identification that said that he was alive. Though he had had a lot of money before he had "died", that had gone to Kyoko. Along with not having many belongings, he didn't have his own money. When people died, the joint accounts were typically closed and definitely the personal accounts. He didn't even have his own car.

"You were thinking?" Kyoko asked wanting to know what was inside his head. She saw him come back to the bed and she placed a hand on his shoulder before hugging him close. "Kuon, what were you thinking, sweetheart?" she asked and Kuon shook his head. "Please tell me. Are you hurt? Do you need me to get you anything?"

"It's alright," he said as he looked into the empty space above the top of her head. "I was going to ask if – no it's okay."

"My sweet Corn, whatever it is, please tell me," Kyoko whispered as she looked up at him. She wanted to do whatever she was able to for him. He had been through a lot and she wanted to make sure that he didn't feel alienated and alone. This was the man she had loved. This was the man that she had mourned for six years. If there was anything that she could give him then she wanted to.

"It's okay. I should probably earn some money first," he told her and Kyoko shook her head.

"No, I…your money went to me and Isabella. It's your money too. I'll go and get some cash out if that's what you need, just tell me how much," Kyoko whispered as she let her fingers move through his blond strands of hair. "What do you need?"

"I was hoping that we could go out shopping and get some clothes, the ones from LME are fine though."

Kyoko blinked at him before smiling, "That sounds like a fun day. I'm excited about it," she told him seeing his nerves. "I'm sorry for bringing this up but we might have to go to the hospital or the city government building to get your status changed from deceased to alive," she put a hand to his chest. "We don't have to do that today but it's something that we should think about."

"Would it make you happy if we did it today?" Kuon asked and Kyoko shrugged.

"Whenever you're ready," she whispered, "We'll do this at your own pace," she kissed him again before cupping his head in her hands. She smiled relieved and pressed her head into his chest. "I'm just happy that you're here. That's all I need. I have you back again. That's all that I need."

…

…

Kyoko held onto Kuon's hand as they stood outside the Hizuri estate. She brought it up to her lips and kissed it a few times as if needing to make contact with him and make sure that he was still there and standing beside her. Kyoko smiled at her father-in-law as he held Isabella in his arms but kept staring at his son and not saying anything.

Kyoko knew how happy he was to have him back and also how happy he was to see him again. It was a happiness that matched her own. "So, we're going to go and we'll be back soon. Thank you for taking care of her today."

"Why can't I come?" the little girl asked as she looked at her parents. Kuon felt a twinge of guilt in his heart as he looked at her. He knew that if he were in her position, he would want to spend time with his father. He would be interested in the man who was supposed to be in his life. He just felt awkward but they had discussed this and it would be easier doing this as the two of them.

"How about we do something tonight?" Kuon asked weakly to his daughter. "Anything that you want. You think about it today and then how about you tell us tonight and we'll see if we can do it."

"Anything?" Isabella asked before thinking, "Okay. I'll do that."

"You be good for your grandparents," Kyoko smiled at her daughter. "Daddy and I will be back to pick you up later. I'm excited to see what we're going to do tonight," she smiled and then looked at Kuu who was gazing at his son happily. "We will be back."

"Take your time," Kuu nodded, "I'm just so glad that yesterday actually happened. I'm so happy that you're back with us no matter how it happened."

Kyoko bit her top lip. She knew how much easier it would be if she passed on the message about how Kuon had been saved from the crash and kept alive because people were having him drink the water from the fountain of youth whilst in a coma. She didn't know if they had injected it into him with a drip, but the fact that he had recovered meant that he could be here.

They had asked her never to tell anyone and so she wouldn't. How could she when they had given her what she had always wanted most? "Have fun," she smiled before Kuon nodded as he put the hood up on his jacket.

"We'll see you soon," he told his daughter before leaving whilst holding Kyoko's hand. "Are you really alright looking for clothes?" he asked and Kyoko smiled.

"I would go anywhere and do anything with you, Kuon," she said as she took deep breaths and though about how fortunate she had been. Most people didn't get the gift of the love of their life returning. She felt truly blessed.

…

…

Kyoko smiled as she stood in the men's clothing store watching Kuon pick up various items that fit his style. She was happy that he was able to find things because she could imagine how hard it was to wake up and find that most of your items had been donated or auctioned for charity and the pieces that were left were being treasured by loved ones. It wasn't as if she could ask for everything back so it was good he was finding things his size that he liked.

She wondered how long it would be until he felt ready to go back into acting. She loved watching him perform and she knew how much he liked it. Maybe he'd need to educate himself on what had happened during the previous six years but she knew that when he was ready, he would be amazing.

However, as Kyoko stood and watched her husband, giving her input when he asked for it, she saw a camera out of the corner of her eye and groaned. Were people really interested in whether or not she was dating. She wanted to get rid of them before they had a chance to hurt Kuon.

Walking over to her husband, she placed a hand on his shoulder, "Why don't you go and try those on and then we can ask to have the ones you like held at the counter?" she kissed his cheek and saw a camera flash. She would have to track down these idiots.

She saw Kuon turn to her before smiling, "It is quite a pile, isn't it?" he asked before nodding. "I'll be back soon. Will you wait for me here?"

"Yes," Kyoko smiled, she gestured to somewhere where they had different types of shoes, many of which she could imagine Kuon wearing. "I'll look through these and my sweet Corn, please don't think about the cost when you do wear them. I want you to feel comfortable so please focus on that. I love you," she whispered to him and as she saw him walk off, she made her way towards where she had spotted the camera.

As Kuon entered the dressing room he took deep breaths to steady himself. Buying clothes could be seen as one way of getting his life back on track. He just had to find some things which made him feel comfortable as well as confident. With so many things having changed, it was important that he approached this new Tokyo with confidence. He didn't know what had happened to him, but just as everyone else seemed to, he was worried about fading out of existence.

He made sure that the door was locked and took off the hooded jacket, looking at himself in the mirror. How come he didn't look any different? How come everything around him had seemed to age and he hadn't? He took a deep breath in before removing his shirt making it so that he was only in his pants with his muscles showing.

He didn't know what to expect when he heard the door open and saw a paparrazi take a photograph of him. "So you're Kyoko's n-" the man looked up at the wide eyed Kuon before turning pale. "Are you _the_ Hizuri Kuon?" he asked as Kuon looked at him unsure of what to do next.

 **End of Chapter Nine**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Eight**

Kris, paulagato

 **AN2:**

This is probably me being super sensitive but I've had people start reviewing my fics and saying how short it is or why is it so short? I actually use a word count and aim for about 2K words per chapter but sometimes it's shorter. Whereas most of the time, it's in the 1900s there are some shorter pieces in the 1700s. It actually feels insulting when I write anything and hear people complain or comment on how short it is. Please don't do this to me or to other writers. We do our best to write our chapters and it just feels insulting. Sorry, this is most likely me being ultra sensitive but I wanted to say something.


	10. Chapter 10 - Ripped by Photographs

**AN:** I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it 😊

 **Chapter Ten – Ripped by Photographs**

Kyoko looked down at the camera in her hand which she had somehow managed to break internally as well as have it explode and crack open so it was in pieces. She felt glad that she had found it before too late but she wasn't sure how to deal with the photographer who was looking at her stunned. "Why do you always do this?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow whilst standing near the register. She looked at the cashier, "Can you please have security escort this man out of the store. I would appreciate it and consider it a personal favor," she smiled as the cashier nodded.

"So," the paparazzi said as he smiled at her thinking that he could still get the information that he wanted. "Are you going to tell me the name of your new boyfriend? Japan wants to know if who you chose to replace -"

Kyoko saw security, threw the camera on the ground, and walked off.

She heard her phone beep and looked around and over at the men's shoe area. She didn't see anyone wearing a hood so maybe he was looking for her. She _had_ at least been able to get him a temporary phone to use until they got him back onto his own cellphone plan.

She pulled her phone out and looked upon it. She could put pictures in her texts again because there were only a few people she felt that she could do that with and none of them were men. She often used them with Moko and Chiori and Maria but that was about it. As she looked at the screen, her eyes widened.

One of your followed keywords has a new update: Ren Tsuruga.

She froze as she opened it and her eyes widened as she saw that someone had put a shirtless photo of her husband onto social media. She paled before walking as fast as her feet allowed her to the dressing room where there were other people rushing too.

Oh god.

She saw a couple of men gathered around a closed changing room and stood there. She felt her body shaking as she had her fists by her side and a dark aura looming around her. She stared at the reporters who had come to the scene already – what the heck were so many doing at a clothing store? – and lifted her chin.

"Back off," she growled, the anger in her eyes. "If you want the LME agency to help you in the future and not ban you from our press releases, you will back off _now_." She felt her anger boil to the surface and hold the men back. She looked at the door, not wanting to open it and so stepped into the stall beside it, forcing out a couple of people who were standing up to get a better look and take pictures with their phones. Fortunately he had the hooded sweater back on.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she saw him pushed against the door to stop anyone from coming in. She could tell already how hurt he was. She sat down on the bench in the room and placed her hand on the wall separating them. "I'm so sorry," she said with tears in her eyes. She should have thought more on it. She should have figured there would be people watching her. The way that they were treating him as if he was a caged animal on exhibit. Her precious Corn. "I'm sorry," she apologized again as the tears filled her eyes.

After what seemed like forever but was only a few minutes, she heard the security start pulling people away and once she knew everyone had left, she stepped out of the changing room before knocking on his. "It's me, sweetheart," she whispered with tears in her own eyes. She hadn't wanted this to happen. She had just wanted him to be safe.

She heard the door open and stepped inside to see Kuon facing forward and just sitting incredibly still. He looked as if he had just suffered through a trauma. Kyoko sat next to him with her hands in her lap though the tears were still flowing down her cheeks. She didn't understand how difficult this was for him because it was too hard to imagine but she knew he was hurt in such a way that he had only gone through a couple of times before.

She looked at him and reached out for his hand. When he took hers she felt a chill through her body from the touch. He was freezing. He didn't look at her and just kept staring forwards and because of the hood, she wasn't sure what expression he had on his face.

"I am so sorry," she apologized before trying to hide her own tears. "Corn, please talk to me? Can you talk to me?" she asked as she just saw him sitting there and looking forward into the open air. He wasn't even moving. "Can I look at your face?" she asked and he nodded. She knelt in front of him and felt her heart break. This was worse then when he had been in the car during the Dark Moon filming. This looked like those photographs after Rick's death.

"Sweetheart," she whispered as she placed a hand on his cheek and he held it there. Having his touch, she moved forward and wrapped her arms around him. She looked at the clothes and made a mental note of them before pulling back. She stood and offered her hand out. "Let's go home, okay?" she asked and he nodded nervously.

She saw him stand and saw how awkward he even was doing that. His body movements were so slow and she didn't know if she had ever seen him this depressed before which worried her greatly. She didn't know how to make this better.

"I love you so much," she tried to remind him as she wrapped an arm around him. In her mind it was as if she were trying to hold him together so that he didn't completely shatter. She saw him flinch as there were people taking pictures of them and as they got to the car, she was very relieved that they could just go home.

…..

…..

It had been three hours since they had gotten back home and during those three hours, Kuon had just stayed in bed and stared off into space. He hadn't said a word to her and he hadn't moved much. Kyoko didn't know how to help him. She didn't know what he needed because this was a strange situation. It was so alien to the two of them.

"Corn?" Kyoko tried again as she rubbed his back and placed small kisses on his shoulder. "Corn, can you tell me what's going on? Can you speak to me? I can dress up as a rooster if that helps," she tried to joke but he just lay there as if catatonic. "Kuon, can you please nod your head if you're okay?" she watched and he didn't move. "Okay, can you please nod your head if you're alive and you don't need me to get you anything?" she asked before seeing him nod.

At least he was responding to her.

"I'm going to call your dad, is there anything that you want to say to him?" she asked and Kuon shook his head. She kissed him again before getting up and walked out of the room, her body shaking once she had stepped outside. He wasn't alright and as the news articles and blog posts were coming out she wondered if he _would_ be okay.

She picked up her phone and called Kuu who immediately picked up the phone.

"Hello, Kyoko?" he asked as if desperately. "What's going on?"

"We were shopping and they - it doesn't matter how it started, Father. I'm calling because I wanted to ask if you could bring Isabella back home. I don't want to leave him alone," she sobbed. She wasn't used to seeing him like this and even before his "death" she wasn't used to it. He was usually so strong and he had guts, he could be brave and achieve things that other people couldn't. Now it was as if he was a broken shell. Kyoko tried hard not to let the tears be heard on the other end of the line.

"How is he?" Kuu asked nervously.

"I –" Kyoko took a few more steps away from the bedroom and lowered her voice so that he wouldn't be able to hear her. "Remember those photographs that were taken just before he left American when he was fifteen? It's just like those," she said. "I just need you to bring her here. I want to be with him so that I can make sure he's okay and he doesn't starve or get dehydrated."

Kuu was quiet for a moment before sighing, "I understand. Please tell me if there's anything that I can do. Are you sure you want Isabella to come back tonight?"

"I think that's for the best," Kyoko told him before looking down and had an idea. "May I speak to Julie for a moment?" she asked.

"Of course, I'll get her. She's playing with Isabella right now but we can always switch," he replied.

"I'd be very grateful for that," Kyoko smiled as she tried to brush away a few of her tears.

"Kyoko?" Julie asked as she took the phone from Kuu. "How is he? Is he okay? He's breathing and everything?"

Kyoko nodded before realizing that she was on the phone, "He's alive and he's responding to me with nodding and shaking his head but I wanted to ask you for a favor." She waited for a moment before sighing, "Julie, do you remember the clothes that Kuon liked to wear before the plane crash?" she asked.

"Of course -" Julie said before Kyoko cut her off.

"Could you get some new clothes and some hooded items, preferably a mix of neutral colors and maybe some brighter shirts or jeans but definitely we're going to need some blacks or dark greys and shoes and maybe bags," she said as she tried to think of what they needed. She had wanted to pick out the clothes with him but maybe Julie could do this for them.

"Are you asking me to create a wardrobe for my son?" Julie asked with hope in her voice but also respect for the situation. "I'd love to do that. I'll buy some things and bring them over once I'm done."

"Thank you," Kyoko sighed relieved, "Do you need his sizes? I still remember them."

"So do I," Julie said. "Tell him that I love him, okay?"

"I promise that I'll do so and Julie, thank you," she said before looking back at the bedroom door. "I want to go back to him so is it okay if -"

"Yes. I'll see you later. Take care of yourself as well. I love both of you," Julie told her and Kyoko smiled before saying goodbye to her mother-in-law. Maybe a new wardrobe would help him heal.

…..

…..

Kyoko had tried to prepare a loving environment for their daughter and had tried to stop her own tears so that it didn't upset Isabella. She knew that Kuon had promised to spend time with her but after what had happened that day she couldn't bear to force him. She just had to make sure that Isabella understood that her father loved her even though he had to deal with his own sadness.

As she heard the doorbell, she went immediately to the door and opened it. She crouched down and hugged her daughter before looking at Kuu sadly. She made sure to look happy when Isabella pulled out of the hug.

"Where's Daddy?" the little girl asked innocently.

"Daddy is - he's -" Kyoko said before looking down and trying to find the best words. "I know that Daddy said that he'd play with you but -"

"I'm excited to do so," Kyoko heard a voice behind her and her eyes couldn't get any wider as she saw Kuon wearing clothes they had taken from LME and with his hair washed and still a little wet. However, he had that smile on his face that was so reminiscent of Ren Tsuruga. "So what are we playing?"

Kyoko looked completely stunned at Kuu who was studying his son.

Isabella let out a squeak as she ran up to him and threw her arms around him. "Hi, Daddy!" she smiled.

There was no way that he wasn't feeling pain and sadness, but he was pushing all of that away for the sake of his daughter. He really was as strong as he used to be.

 **End of Chapter Ten**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you, reviewers of Chapter Nine**

Brennakai, Crazy4Animation, Kris, minmouse21, paulagato, RichkeyZero


	11. Chapter 11 - The Beauty of Strength

**AN:** I know I just updated this fic but I really wanted to write this. I hope you enjoy it.

 **Chapter Eleven – The Beauty of Strength**

Isabella grinned as Kuon picked her up and cuddled her close. She kissed his cheek before letting her head rest on his strong shoulder, "I love you, Daddy" she said sweetly as Kuon softened hearing that. He wasn't sure if they had spent enough time together for him _to be_ loved by her. He still wanted to earn that part of her heart.

"Did you have a good day today?" he asked her as she threw her arms around his neck.

"Yeah. Grandma has these new paper models and we colored in their dresses," she said, "It was fun. Mom taught me to sew."

Kuon nodded before looking at Kyoko with a weak smile. She could tell he was channeling Ren Tsuruga and his eyes showed some pain that she could only do so because she had trained herself in Kuon's subtle body language. "So, did you decide what you want to do tonight?" he asked her and Isabella nodded.

"I want to eat Dominos and watch Beauty and the Beast," she smiled as Kuon nodded and hugged her. He turned to Kyoko before hearing his father speak.

"I'll go and get it and bring it here," he said as he still kept a careful eye on his son. He seemed to be acting okay for his daughter's sake. "You guys just tell me what you want."

"Mommy loves corn and mayonnaise. She always gets it. Mommy always smiles when she sees corn on the menus and she loves hamburger and egg and gets a side of corn too," Isabella smiled seeming not to know the meaning of why Kyoko loved the vegetable so much. Kyoko smiled to her husband and saw his understanding. Even if it was something as small as choosing a certain vegetable it showed how much she had missed him.

"Sounds good," Kuon nodded, "but what's your favorite, is it the same?"

Isabella shook her head, "I like the Chicken Terriyaki one. It tastes really yummy. You'll like it," she said as Kyoko opened her mouth but Kuon spoke before she could get any words out.

"Then I'm excited to try it. I'm sure it's delicious," he told her and Kyoko nodded. She didn't want him to force himself too much and she knew that eating had always been a problem for him. She looked back at Kuu and nodded.

"Okay, I'll go get it," he said as he looked at Kuon with a smile. This was how the last six years _should_ have been. He looked at his son again before smiling, "I love you." With that he turned and left.

Kyoko reached out and placed her hand for a moment on Kuon's arm before going into the living room with them. She just wanted him to be alright.

…..

…..

 _Kyoko had been sitting and folding laundry at the house as she sat in front of the TV. She had managed to finally take a day off from work and was spending it with her daughter. She had slowed down her schedule whilst her husband was away and she had the following day with him. He had managed to find an earlier plane and switch his tickets so she would see him sooner._

 _It was so like him to try to do everything in his power to be with their family and he was the father and the husband. He was such an important person to both of them._

 _Kyoko was currently watching a rerun of a drama that she and Kuon had done together whilst he was still Ren Tsuruga to the public. She had learned so much from him. She had been so guided and protected by him. She loved him more than she had ever loved anybody._

 _All of a sudden there was a beep and the drama stopped. Kyoko looked up at it. Usually these would be special news alerts and she sometimes didn't want to see them and be reminded of the sadness and pain in the world._

" _Sorry for the interruption but we have some sad news to report. The Nippon Airways flight number NH172 has reportedly crashed. We lost contact with the flight and it is thought that it has crashed. We'll have more information to share with you when we receive it."_

 _Kyoko turned pale as she reached for the paper on which she had put the details for Kuon's flight. She froze and shook her head as she looked at the same number which they had reported. "Please be a mistake. Please don't leave me," she begged. She felt the tears flow from her eyes and she curled up, the pain was too much to take. He had taken an earlier flight so he could be with her. He hadn't originally scheduled that flight. He wasn't supposed to be on that plane._

" _Kuon," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around herself._

 _The whole world seemed to be numb around her and she felt alone. This was worse than when Shou had said those things about her, in fact compared to this his words meant nothing. She closed her eyes but all she could see was his smiling face, all she could hear was his voice telling her that he loved her. She couldn't breathe._

 _She pinched herself but she couldn't wake herself up. This wasn't happening. This couldn't happen._

 _He couldn't leave her, he wouldn't. He had survived. He was out there. He wasn't dead._

 _She didn't feel as if he was dead._

 _However, the world offered her nothing as she fell onto the floor in a fetal position just shaking and feeling as if she was going to throw up a years-worth of food. She couldn't hear the drama anymore. All she could feel was the pain that her precious husband might be gone from this world._

…

…

Kyoko watched her husband and daughter more than the movie. She often watched princess movies with her daughter because she loved them so much but she had missed out on Kuon being a part of it. She loved how Isabella had rushed off to get her toys of the two main characters and handed Kuon the beast toy and he had been playing with her during the movie including them making the two toys dance together.

She felt tears in her eyes but turned away. She had missed him more than even she understood. He was the first person she had had mutual and unconditional romantic love with. He was the first guy who had always treated her like a princess. He was her Corn, her fairy prince.

She reached out for another piece of pizza and put it on her plate.

She loved him more than she could even understand. As the movie finished, she smiled and Isabella grinned as she danced in the room. Kyoko took this chance to snuggle up with her husband. "I love you, Kuon," she told him as she leaned up for a kiss.

At that point there was a knock on the door and Kyoko quickly kissed Kuon again before standing up. She walked over to the door and smiled as she saw Julie standing there with multiple bags from a few high-end men's fashion stores. She opened the door with a smile.

"I may have gone a little overboard," Julie smiled, "but I have all of the receipts so you can return any that he doesn't like. I have some more bags in the car."

Kyoko blinked before going to her purse, "How much do I –-"

"Please allow me to spoil my son," Julie asked with tears in her eyes. She froze as she saw him come out and stand in front of her. "Hi baby," she whispered before walking over to him and holding him. She cried onto his shirt and Kyoko took the chance to get the bags from the car for her.

"Hi, Mom" Kuon whispered as he held her. "You went shopping for me?"

"You don't have to keep any of them if you don't want. I'm so…" she sobbed again as she held him. She pulled back but placed one hand on each of his cheeks. "Darling, I can't even tell you how happy I am to see you again. I have my little boy back."

Kyoko grinned before counting the bags, there were eleven of them and then three shoe boxes in addition to that. Julie really had done a lot of shopping. She looked back at her mother-in-law and saw Isabella rush out to her and throw her arms around her grandmother. Kuon took a step back before looking at the bags.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to face the world outside," he told her nervously and Kyoko came over to him. One hand went through his hair whilst the other rested on his back. She kissed him again and nodded as she held onto his hand. "I just want to know why this happened," he said before Julie turned to them.

"Kyoko," she said as the younger woman looked up, "There's a postcard on the outside of the door," she told her and Kyoko blinked. She went to the other side of the door and saw the same symbol that the woman who had told her about the fountain of youth had told her about. On it was an address, a telephone number, and a handwritten message.

 _You can tell him but there will be punishments if our secret is revealed._

Kyoko looked at it and smiled in relief. Even if the whole world didn't understand it at least Kuon would. She knew how he kept secrets and this might be what helped him the most. She looked up at him and smiled weakly. "Julie, can you stay downstairs with Isabella for a few moments." She gestured to the bedroom, "Kuon, we need to talk."

Kuon nodded before following her until they were inside the bedroom. He turned to her nervously. "Did I do something wrong? I know that I was channeling a lot of Ren back there but it's important that -"

"Kuon," Kyoko said as she gave a soft smile and relaxed her body. "You haven't done anything wrong, please don't think that. I'm so proud of you and so happy that you managed to find a way of giving Isabella her father for tonight. I know that you're going through a lot and I might have some news that will help but I'm scared to tell you. No matter what you can't repeat this information to anyone. Can you promise me that?" she asked and Kuon nodded.

"I promise. What is it? What's so -" he asked nervously and Kyoko looked down.

"You're actually thirty-two years old," she said as he looked away with a sigh and tried to figure out how to tell her that he wasn't. "No, listen to me, you are actually thirty-two years old but you just look like a twenty-six year old. I was approached yesterday by a woman who was part of the tribal village that you crashed down near. You were in a coma for six years and were kept alive by a special medicine down there."

"Kyoko, if this is one of your things about -"

Kyoko sighed and handed him the postcard. "I'm telling you the truth. However, apparently the elixir that they gave you made it so that your body produces a changed blood or something and that will give you a youthful appearance and extend your life, but it's okay because it kept you alive. I learned this yesterday but was told never to tell anyone because if I do there's a chance that you'll die."

Kuon looked at her shocked before nodding slowly. "So, I'm not from an alternate timeline or in a very strange episode of an old episodic TV show?" he asked and Kyoko shook her head.

"You're thirty-two, Kuon, you just haven't aged physically. I think they are so worried about their culture and way of life being disturbed that they have to live in secrecy because imagine how corporations would tear up their land and battles would be fought," she said before reaching out for him. "If I had known that you were there, I would have gone there and stayed by your side. I would have learned their customs, their language, their way of life. I would have stayed every day by your bedside until you woke up but I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

Kuon sighed and walked over to her, he knelt before her and moved her into his arms from where she sat on the bed. "It's okay now that we're together," he told her, "You have nothing to apologize for. It's alright."

"I love you," Kyoko whispered into his chest. "More than anything else in this world, I love you, Corn."

"I love you too," he said as he held her. He had to admit though that he felt better knowing this but it was still scary to think about the future. If this was true would there be a day when Kyoko would die and he would still have to live. Even if she was an elderly woman and he still looked young, he wouldn't let her go. You never could let those you truly loved die.

 **End of Chapter Eleven**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Ten**

Brennakai, PaulaGaTo, Richkey-Zero


	12. Chapter 12 - Answering Questions

**AN:** I really wanted to focus on Kyoko a little in this chapter so I hope you enjoy 😊

 **Chapter Twelve – Answering Questions**

Kyoko sighed as she looked in the mirror at herself. She should feel happy and she did, but she wasn't as happy as she could be. The reason was because of Kuon but it wasn't any type of negative feelings about him. She was so happy that she had her husband home and alive but there was that pain that Kuon could be taken from her again. She didn't want to lose hope again. She wanted this to work out.

She looked at the bedroom door as it opened and tried to brush away some tears from her eyes. She went to the closet where she straightened some of the new jackets that Julie had bought for Kuon. Julie had good taste and she could actually feel her husband in these new pieces. She heard Kuon enter the room and smiled at him.

He was wearing a jade turtle neck sweater and comfortable black sweat pants. Kyoko had to take a few breaths as she looked at him and then ran up to him, throwing her arms around him as she did so. She placed a hand to his cheek and grinned. "Hey there," she said with a soft voice as she reached her head up to touch his cheek. "You look more like yourself again, how are you feeling?"

Kuon looked down and the smile went from his face.

Kyoko frowned as well and saw him go over and sit on their bed. Inwardly she wanted to grin at that comment and that she could finally use joint possessives again and that she wasn't alone. She didn't want to do it externally though, not when he appeared to be suffering so badly. "Sweetheart," she came as she sat down beside him. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Isabella's a good kid," Kuon replied and Kyoko nodded. She wondered whether it was something with their daughter that had sparked something. Of course, if she had been in a coma or if she had amnesia then she would feel lost as well. She would feel that something wasn't right in the way that she only remembered her daughter as a baby and suddenly she was all grown up. Maybe that was the reason she felt that it was best for both of them to try to have another baby.

"She is, I think she gets a lot of things from her dad," she said and Kuon looked ahead of him with a haunted expression. Was that the wrong thing to say?

"She doesn't even know me. The person who has raised her the most is you. We should have done it together, we should have been a team. I failed her by getting on that plane."

Kyoko couldn't take the sadness and so she wrapped her arms around her husband. She could see the same self-hatred that had always been present before he had worked through his issues when it came to Rick. She didn't blame Kuon for not being present in his daughter's life. There were many dads who couldn't handle being a father and just left without a word. They had decided to be selfish and focus on their own lives.

In comparison, Kuon had caught an earlier flight because he had wanted to be with the two of them. He had wanted to have more time with his daughter and his wife rather than waiting at the airport and at a hotel. He had been doing it for them.

"Did you think that you were doing something wrong when you took that flight?" Kyoko asked as she pulled herself close to him. "Did you think that you were going to be taking a flight that would plummet?"

"Of course not," Kuon replied, "Is there even a person who exists in the world who would do that?"

Kyoko smiled softly, "No, there isn't. Nobody would – well suicide bombers, but most people wouldn't because they wouldn't want to leave their life. We were lucky that you survived even if we didn't know about it for six years," she said.

"So she doesn't hate me?" Kuon asked as he stared at his hands. "Kyoko, I don't even know who I am anymore."

Kyoko hummed, "First of all, no, Isabella doesn't hate you and she's never hated you. Every day I would try to share with her a new fact or story about you and sometimes I would tell her about thoughts that I had about you. I always had a dream that you would come back and sweep me up in your arms but it always seemed more like a fantasy than something that could actually happen."

Kyoko looked at her husband and placed a hand on his cheek, "Secondly, if you don't know who you are then it's okay. To me you are my husband, my prince Corn, the man I look up to when it comes to acting, the man who I love. You are Kuon Hizuri. Maybe right now the name Kuon Hizuri doesn't mean to you what it did six yeas ago and that's okay, we'll try to work on that answer together."

"And if I didn't want to be here in Japan then -"

"Do you remember what I had said to you earlier about how I would have moved to an unknown place with an unknown language and unknown culture just because you were in a coma in that place. How could it mean anything different with you awake?" She wrapped her arms around him again. "My home is with you. I can make a house into a home anywhere but I've barely felt at home until yesterday when I was able to touch you again. You're my home, Kuon. Isabella is my home."

Kuon pulled Kyoko onto his lap so that he could hold her closer. She grinned and laughed softly as he held her so protectively. "I'm a little scared about what will happen tomorrow," he told her nervously and Kyoko looked at him.

She hummed softly before looking down, "We don't need to leave the house if you don't want to. Father will be able to take over all of the press that will be going on so that we can all do this at your own pace. If you feel you need to sort things out then I'll be right -"

"You've taken too many days off of work, right?" Kuon asked, "I should be able to navigate things for myself but thank you for making such a sacrifice for me."

Kyoko froze as she looked at him. This was the Ren side of him that was talking, right? This was the side of him that had always looked out for her when she was a junior actress. This was the side that had told her that actors should be able to handle death and still do a good job. She looked down and nodded. She knew it would make him happier if she agreed.

"But I love you," she whispered as she felt a shadow of the pain of going to work and feeling that she would never be able to perform opposite him or see his work ever again. She wasn't going to push him though.

She was just begging the world that nothing would happen to him.

…..

…..

Kyoko sighed as she approached the set after dropping Isabella off at her school. She looked at the director and nodded slowly before trying to ignore the stares that people were giving her all around her. She couldn't deal with this. She didn't want them to ask her about what was happening. All of the radio stations were talking about how Kuon and Shou were both back and how it was strange that they both looked younger than they should.

Kyoko didn't want to answer these questions. She wanted to say no comment and have them all drop it. However, something with this gravity in the situation wouldn't be easy to drop. It could be years before people felt the question was resolved and one thing was for certain, she wasn't going to give up the truth. It was out of her debt of gratitude to the people who had saved her husband's life and it was out of knowledge that telling the truth could hurt Kuon.

"So," the actor, Jun Takada, who was costarring with her in the picture said as he came closer to her, "Kyoko-san, is it correct that your husband came back? Did he tell you where he's' been?"

Kyoko looked away and tried to ignore him but saw him pursuing her. She had to get a story together before she made things worse for Kuon and people tried to get him to answer the questions instead of her.

Jun came closer to her, "I thought we could trust each other, Kyoko-san," he said and Kyoko looked down with a deep breath.

"If that's true then you'll trust me when I say that whatever my husband and I are going through is personal and I don't want to speak for him. Yes, the news media is right, my husband is back but it's not between anyone else but myself and my husband. If you care at all about me or even about the drama, drop the subject."

Kyoko tried to hold back the ferocity that she used in saying that. She didn't want to create an image of herself of being a hard person to work with and she didn't want people to use her to create a bad image of Kuon or stain his reputation. She needed to keep her family safe.

"Kyoko," the director said as he approached her and Kyoko looked down, her hand shaking before she glanced up at Yashiro for help and he saw her need for him.

"Can I ask what's going on here that is preventing Kyoko from getting ready for her scene?" he asked in a direct and no-nonsense manner that made Kyoko feel extremely grateful for him prioritizing his friendship with both of them over how he felt with his career. He was more of a friend than a manager.

"Can I please just go to the dressing room?" Kyoko asked and Yashiro nodded.

"Kyoko is the star in this drama and if her request is something as simple as being able to change into her costume to create the best product possible then I must insist that you let her. For your knowledge, yes, Kuon is alive but I would ask you to respect his wishes and not ask about him until he is ready to face the cameras. Attacking his loved ones shows disgraceful behavior," he said firmly as Kyoko managed to get out of the line of questioning.

After a while, Kyoko heard a knock on her door and she nervously opened it. She smiled as she saw it was Yashiro and smiled at him. "Thank you," she whispered as she tried to steady herself.

"It must have been hard to leave him this morning," Yashiro said as he watched her. "Is there anything you can tell me about his situation so that I'm prepared but if you don't want to talk about it then -"

"He had surgery," Kyoko lied before looking down. "I don't know where it was and neither does he but after the crash he was in a coma and they managed to reconstruct his face. We personally destroyed the old pictures of his face because of how much he was hurting. If you need more to convince people, he's an American and they do that all the time. He's more American than he is either Japanese or Russian. Can't we just be happy that he's here?"

Yashiro nodded as he looked at her. He knew that it didn't matter if he believed her or not, "Yes. That's what we should be happy about," he nodded. He would go with this story and play up how Kuon was an American. That might draw away most of the reporters.

 **End of Chapter Twelve**

 **Thank you for Reading**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Eleven**

Brennakai, ktoll9, RichkeyZero


	13. Chapter 13 - Fear of Flying

**AN:** Thanks for your patience in this update, hope you enjoy

 **Chapter Thirteen – Fear of Flying**

Kyoko sighed as she rolled over in the bed. Hopefully she could figure out how to handle the reporters today. She wanted to just scream at all of them to leave her and her family alone and why should Kuon be of so much interest to them but she knew that she shouldn't do that. Instead she just had to imagine that they'd get out of this situation without being hurt too badly. Kyoko smiled as she opened her eyes and as she did open them, she froze.

She was alone again.

She stared at the side of the bed where it had been made and the cover was tucked in on that side, the pillow was fluffed and it didn't look like a person had slept there all night. She definitely remembered going to sleep with Kuon in the bed. Well, maybe he was taking a shower or something, there was a lot that he had to think about.

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before walking to the bathroom, she knocked on the door but didn't hear anything. She froze as she looked around to see everything neat and orderly as if a maid service had invaded overnight. What was going on here?

Kyoko looked around nervously, maybe he got hungry and got something to eat or drink? Yes, Kuon always got hungry at random times when nobody else did, that must be what had happened. Kyoko opened the bedroom door and slipped her slippers on and then grabbed her robe. She froze as she saw Kuon sitting on the door with a large bag next to him. He was just staring at the space in front of him.

"Honey?" Kyoko asked as she came towards him. She didn't want to startle him but she wasn't sure of what he was doing. "Sweetheart, are you planning to go somewhere?" she asked before seeing him just continue to stare in front of him. She sighed and went over to sit in front of him and smiled. "Hi," she said as she noticed him finally making eye contact with her.

"Kyoko," he whispered before casting his emerald eyes to the floor. He looked guilty in his expression and Kyoko wondered if he had been planning on the best time to leave her and Isabella.

"It's awfully early in the morning to leave the house without having anything to eat," Kyoko said to him as she pressed her back against the wall. She didn't want to tell him that the years in which she had believed that he were dead were the worst years of her life. She didn't want to plead with him to stay. She didn't want to seem as desperate as she felt inside.

"You know I've never been one for breakfast," Kuon replied to her and Kyoko sighed.

"You see, you say that but I wonder how long it feels like to you to sit down with just your wife and eat some of her home cooking," Kyoko grinned as she tapped on her chin playfully. She saw him look even guiltier. "Where were you planning on running to?"

"Does it matter?" he asked her quietly and Kyoko looked up.

"I think so," she said as she lay her head on his shoulder. "If it was somewhere familiar then maybe I could talk to you about it, try to help you work through some of those memories, I could even plan for us to go to Kyoto together if that's what you were thinking of. If it was somewhere more foreign then we could look at hotel reservations and plan a trip for the three of us."

"And if I'm scared of getting on the plane?" Kuon asked her and Kyoko looked down. She didn't want to admit how terrifying Kuon being in a plane without her was to her. She didn't even like the idea of the two of them doing it but at least she would be by his side if something did go wrong again.

"I think eventually the press will settle down," Kyoko said awkwardly. "You just have to wait and give it time."

"Would you really be willing to have another child with me?" Kuon asked as he looked at the bag and took deep breaths as if trying to figure things out for himself. Kyoko looked at him and then curled up to him closer.

"I would love to have another daughter or even a son with you. We make really good children by the way, good genes," she smiled before kissing his cheek. "Anything that you want to do today?"

Kuon shrugged, "Go down to the government building and make them understand that I'm alive," he said and Kyoko smiled before taking his hand in hers and letting her thumb run over it.

"I repeat, is there anything that you want to do today?" she asked and Kuon looked down.

"Do you think we could visit Lory?" he asked and Kyoko looked at him for a moment before nodding slowly. She wasn't at all sure how _that_ conversation would go.

…..

…..

Kyoko watched as she saw Kuon telling Isabella a story about a time when Kuu and Julie had taken him to Disneyland when he was a young kid. Isabella had shared her favorite Disney movies and Kyoko had finally felt relaxed enough to take a step backwards and pick up the phone to make an important call. She hated going behind his back like this, but she needed to know that he would be safe.

She dialed a number that she often called when she felt helpless, she called her father.

As Kyoko tried to measure his breaths with the ringtone, she heard the phone get picked up.

"Hello, Kyoko? How are you this morning?" Kuu asked in a happy manner and Kyoko looked down, she didn't want to destroy his happiness but it was best that he knew what might be going on. If they wanted to keep Kuon with them they had to make sure he felt comfortable in his environment.

"Father, he's thinking of running," Kyoko whispered into the phone as she held it to her ear. She looked down and placed a hand over her eyes as if Kuu could see the tears just by talking to her over the phone. She wanted this to work out. She didn't want to go through those lonely years where her husband wasn't by her side, she didn't want to do _that_ again.

Kuu sighed, "Please don't let him," he said with a long pause. "Kyoko, is there anything that I can do. You know that I would do anything for Kuon, if he's -"

"I want the three of us to leave, to go away from all of this attention. Kuon needs to reclaim his identity and he needs access to our bank account but there has to be a way that that can be done quickly. He's going to burn up if the media is on him too much and we don't want that," she took a deep breath in before sobbing. "Father, I know what's going on and I'm so sorry that I can't tell you but we need to save Kuon."

Kuu drew another breath, "Kyoko," he asked, "Kuon, do you know how old he is or by what means he entered this world?" he asked as Kyoko froze feeling nervous. This was Kuu, he would never do anything that could bring harm to his family but the people of the village had told her never to tell of his secret. She sobbed as the tears finally trickled down her cheeks.

"Father, he's been in a coma. He's thirty-two. I can't tell you any more than that. Please, I can't tell you because I made a promise," she said as she felt her chest hurt. "Please don't tell Julie that. Please don't repeat those things, I made a promise, I don't know how much I can tell you."

"I won't," Kuu replied as he heard the desperation.

"Please," Kyoko said as she fell onto the ground but managed to shut the door so that nobody could see her break. She knew that at this point there was no hiding it from Kuu, but she didn't want Isabella to get scared and she didn't want Kuon to feel any worse. "If they know that someone else knows, they'll take him away from us. Please,"

"Kyoko, calm down," Kuu instructed. "Of course. Of course, I would never do anything that could harm my son. Maybe going away would be best for all of you though I would want to come. Just…if you do go…" Kuu said as Kyoko could see the man he had been just after Kuon's passing was announced, "please come back if only to visit."

"How could I ever leave the perfect father?" Kyoko laughed weakly. "I don't know how we're going to go though, Kuon has expressed a little bit of fear about being in a plane and -"

"I don't want him in a plane either," Kuu interrupted, "but maybe that's my over-protectiveness at being his father." Kuu sighed and looked at the floor, he didn't want to think about how he had fallen apart when he had heard that Kuon had died in a plane accident because he wanted to see his wife. He didn't want to admit how it had taken years for him to even be able to wake up in the morning and not feel sick to his stomach, how he had only recently stopped thinking about how he could have prevented Kuon from even stepping onto that plane and persuading him to take a different flight.

"You know," Kuu said as he attempted to make his daughter smile, "I used to wonder what would happen if I could build a time machine. I used to think about what I could do if I went back in time and maybe I could stop him from getting on that flight. I sometimes even imagined knocking him out and protecting him by locking him up. I guess that a miracle saved me from some trick technical decisions."

Kyoko smiled at that as she wrapped an arm around her knees, "I asked the fairies if they could save him. I couldn't see them but I felt as if they were out there and they were looking down upon us and caring about us. I even dared to think that he would become a fairy." Kyoko laughed weakly, "I had a dream once where he came back as a fairy and I had to keep him safe. I just want him to be safe."

"We all do," Kuu said in agreement.

He heard Kyoko's breath catch in her throat as a door opened and he could only imagine the fact that she would feel guilty for crying when Kuon was going through so much of his own hardship. "Kyoko, please remind him that I love him. Take care of yourself, I love both of you."

Kyoko nodded as she looked up at Kuon who was staring at her, the pain on his face mirroring hers. "Your father loves you so much," she said before feeling Kuon wrap her up in his arms. "I love you more though. Please can we just stay together, I don't care if I have to be handcuffed to you for the rest of my life. I love you and I want you to stay."

Kuon sighed and let his hand run through her hair, "If that's what you want but I might not -"

"Anywhere," Kyoko whispered, "We can go anywhere as long as we're together."

 **End of Chapter Thirteen**

 **Thank you for Reading**

 **Thank you, Reviewers Chapter Twelve**

Brennakai, Eka, Kris XD, kyoko minion, paulagato, RichkeyZero


	14. Chapter 14 - Isabella

**AN:** I know that I recently updated this, but I really wanted to write this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

 **Chapter Fourteen – Isabella**

" _Come on, Daddy's going away for a little bit, Isabella, he really wants you to eat your breakfast," Kuon grinned as he attempted to feed the one year old. He picked up the spoon with her food on and tried to entertain her with it before feeding her. He smiled at Kyoko as she rested on the doorway. "Do you think it's hypocritical me trying to get her to eat?" he joked._

 _Kyoko smiled back at him and walked over to place her hand on his back, "No, I think it's adorable," she said as Isabella grabbed a handful of cereal and smooshed it in her face. "She's just a little creative, just like her father," she grinned as she kissed the top of Kuon's head now that she was glad he was sitting so she could do so._

" _Like her mother you mean," Kuon said before taking a deep breath in, "Tell me that I don't have to leave and go to work like a responsible adult?" he asked and Kyoko smiled._

" _Well, I'd rather you stay here but you have to do your job and you'll be back before you know it," Kyoko saw Kuon stand and she wrapped her arms around him. "I love you so much," she said into his chest. "I'll miss you so much when you're gone, Prince Corn."_

 _Kuon laughed at that and held her close, "I'll definitely be coming back for my princesses."_

…..

…..

Kuon looked down at his new ID card and the papers that were stating that his status had been updated to alive. He held them nervously in his hands before looking over at Kyoko who was grinning to him. They were encountering people staring at them everywhere they went and as she saw a camera flash, Kyoko put one hand on Kuon's upper arm as if to steady him.

"It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay. They are just very very glad that you're alive," she tried to tell him though that was only half the reason and they both knew it. She grinned at him as she leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I'm here for you," she said as she looked around.

"Does Isabella like school?" Kuon asked as he studied the ground.

"She does. She's very creative and she makes friends very easily. I expect that we're going to have to worry about boyfriends when she gets to middle school," Kyoko saw Kuon smile a little. "I've always imagined that you'd be a very protective father," she said as she tried to ignore the people gossiping more than usual about her husband.

"I'm glad," Kuon whispered as he brought up his free hand to the hood of his jacket, he looked across at Kyoko as if asking for an okay to put the hood up. Kyoko smiled and nodded as she took her free hand to help him and smiled as she saw how he managed to keep his face hidden. However, from her angle she could still see his face.

"So," she asked weakly, "How do you feel about going back into acting again? I've missed working on projects together," she said as she let her thumb rub against the back of his hand.

"Is it okay to take a little time off?" he asked her and Kyoko paused for a moment before nodding. She didn't know how to handle the situation and believed that acting would be what would help Kuon the most but if he was nervous when it came to it, the last thing she wanted was to cause those nerves to multiply.

"Sure," she nodded, "Are you thinking about doing a little work from home? If you wanted to help Kuu with some office work then I'm sure he trusts you enough to work from home and most things are done on the computer these days. Kuu still has a lot of hard copies though because that's what Lory did."

Kuon nodded, "That would be nice," he told her with a weak smile before looking down again, "I think I want to write, maybe a screenplay?" he asked her and Kyoko's excitement showed on her face. She had always thought that her fairy prince was an incredibly creative and imaginative person. If writing would help him steady himself and stop him from running then she would do anything she could to help and encourage him. Plus, she couldn't imagine reading anything better than from the same mind that had made up the stories of Corn and Princess Rosa.

"That would be amazing. I want to read it, please let me read it?" she jokingly begged to him as the same excitement showed in her expression as when she was a teenager.

"If I write it, I might need someone to read it over and give me feedback," Kuon grinned to her before nodding, "Yes, I'll let you read it."

Kyoko grinned to her husband glad that things seemed to be working themselves out. She reached for his hand but then froze as he pulled back at the sound of her phone. She pulled it out before shaking her head although her expression was troubled.

"What's wrong?" Kuon asked her and Kyoko looked down not wanting to talk about it, "Is it work? You should go," he said as he looked down at her with the same disappointment, "We'll spend more time together tomorrow. Tell Yashiro that I look forward to our double date happening."

Kyoko sighed before looking at him with a pout, "I want to spend more time with you but I know that you want me to do my best at work, so I'll try and do my best and try to wrap it up as soon as possible. I'll arrange for somebody to pick Isabella up from school."

Kuon paused before looking down, "I'll do it," he offered.

Kyoko froze before looking up with a smile across her face, "Okay, if you're sure about it. I'm sure that she'll love having her dad meet her. We're becoming a family again," she said and Kuon smiled too. "If you want to spend some time together after you pick her up then that would be good too but don't feel as if you have to push yourself. She's quite content just going home and playing with her toys after she's done her homework."

Kuon smiled again before his eyes had a slight sparkle in them which Kyoko hadn't failed to notice, "How about the Disney store?" he asked her and Kyoko gave a joking pout.

"But that's where I hoped that you'd take _me_ ," she said with a wink as Kuon pulled her close so that he could kiss her.

"Maybe next time," he promised her as Kyoko blushed. She was so happy to be with the man that she loves once again.

…

…..

Isabella giggled happily as she grabbed her bag, she wanted to see her dad and to learn more about him. She had often heard all the grown ups talking about her father as if he were some kind of rock star. Some had even had pictures of him on their mood boards. Somehow her father was known as an inspiration to many people…apart from her.

Isabella changed her shoes but felt the teacher standing behind her, "Isabella-chan," she smiled, "I was told that your daddy is picking you up today." Isabella's eyes widened and she smiled. Maybe she could show off her daddy.

"Really?" she asked excitedly as she grinned happily.

The teacher smiled before saying, "Isabella-chan, do you know a lot about your father? Maybe teacher should meet him. Maybe we should all sit down together."

Isabella frowned, "If Mummy trusts him then I trust him," she said with confidence. "Bye, teacher" she said before she dropped down into a bow and turned to go see her father.

…..

…..

Kuon looked around at the other parents awkwardly from where he stood with the hood still on. He could see a lot of the mothers gossiping about him and he even heard both of his well-known names thrown in there. He still felt like an alien but he was trying to take steps for his family. He went to the entrance of the building and looked at one of the teachers who was standing with Isabella. Apparently this one wasn't in the know of who was picking the little girl up.

"Isabella, are you ready to go home?" he asked the small girl before looking at the teacher nervously from under the hoody. "I'm really sorry, I've never done this before and…well my wife said you needed identification," he said as the woman started shaking with a wide grin over her face.

"Can you lower the hood?" the teacher asked as she looked and saw everyone else with the same anticipation, "Just so we can accurately check that you are who you say you are."

Kuon sighed and did so, he looked at the woman in front of him completely drained because of this. "May I please just take my daughter home?" he asked as Isabella grabbed to his hand. Kuon sighed as he saw the camera flashes and tucked Isabella's head towards his body so that they wouldn't invade _her_ privacy.

Finally they managed to pull through the mob which started following them to the car and Kuon sighed as he helped Isabella into the new car that Kyoko had bought him. It was a four seater which could accommodate the small family and yet was still quite flashy. Kyoko had been hoping that having his own vehicle would help Kuon have confidence again.

Kuon took a deep breath at the wheel before starting the car. He looked back at Isabella and gave a weak grin, "So, how was school today? Did you learn a lot of interesting things?"

"Yes," Isabella smiled happily, "Lots of interesting things. I really like doing vocabulary practice. Mummy taught me all about American-English because that's what you spoke when you were little."

"Yeah," Kuon nodded as he drove them towards the shopping area, "That's right. I grew up in America and was raised by your grandmother and grandfather. They taught me Japanese and Russian because that's what they spoke when _they_ were little."

"Grandma taught me some Russian," Isabella giggled, "It was pretty."

Kuon smiled as he drove but kept glancing back in the mirror to see the little girl whenever it was safe to. She was so beautiful like her grandmother and he felt so guilty about not being in her life before this. "I'm sure it was, your grandma speaks the best Russian," he told her. "So, I thought that we might go out shopping since Mummy is working right now. How do you feel about going to the Disney store?"

"Is that where you want to go, Daddy?" Isabella asked as she tried to keep her smile to a minimum but it wasn't really working, the excitement about being with her own father was too big for her to keep inside.

"Yes, that's where I want to go. I want to be with you," Kuon told her as his heart felt lighter just by saying those words.

"I want to be with you too. That's what I wished for all my birthdays, to be with Daddy again," Isabella smiled as Kuon looked down with a bittersweet smile. He never wanted to let his little girl go again but there was no making up for the time that they had missed together.

 **End of Chapter Fourteen**

 **Thank You for Reading**

 **Thank You, Reviewers of Chapter Thirteen**

Brennakai, KrisXD, ktoll9, PaulaGaTo, RichkeyZero


	15. Chapter 15 - Connections

**AN:** I know it might sound a little unfair and I'm sorry about that, I hope when I have less hours at work I can work on aaaall my fics again but I kind of want to work on the ones I want when I want at least until I get less hours at work. I hope that you'll understand that and please enjoy this chapter 😊

 **Chapter Fifteen - Connections**

Kuon looked at Isabella as they looked through the Disney dresses, he knew that Kyoko had probably played dress up with her from the time that she was walking but he had missed that part of her life. He hoped that he could buy her something that she would like even if it was just a small thing. Maybe she still had one of the toys that he had selected when she was a baby but he hadn't given her a gift in six years.

"Look," Isabella giggled as she came over holding a plush which had the characters of Angel and Stitch and they were kissing one another. It looked to be part of the Valentines clearance. "Isn't this cute?" she asked as Kuon took the toy from her. He flinched as he noticed another camera flash but he kept calm.

"It is," he smiled to her, "Would you like it? Daddy has access to the money now and would really like to buy you some gifts," he smiled to her and Isabella watched him with a tilt of her head.

"Is it okay? I don't have any pock-" she said but Kuon placed a hand on the top of her head and moved it down to her cheek with such affection showing in his face.

"It's okay, please do me the honor of spoiling you," he said as Isabella grinned and Kuon put the toy in the basket that he was holding. "How about we look at these clothes here, there are a lot of different shirts and -"

"And please don't hold back," Kyoko smiled as she put a hand on Kuon's shoulder to let him know that she was there. "When your father says that he likes spoiling people he means it," she saw Kuon looking back at her and she smiled trying to reassure him that he was doing a great job as a dad.

"Really?" Isabella asked before she picked up a shirt that showed Belle, "Even this?" she asked and Kyoko nodded as Isabella put it into the basket.

"Work went well, I thought you'd be a little later than this," Kuon said as he checked his watch.

"Did you forget who I learned acting from?" Kyoko laughed, "Trust me, the king of no NGs made it so that I can complete my work in a timely manner. I've really missed my sensei so I made sure to sew each word that he said to me onto my heart so I wouldn't be lonely."

Kuon smiled at that and Kyoko looked at him with so much love and desire that she almost broke down crying with how happy she was that she could talk to him and touch him and that he was there with them again. Even though so much time had passed, Kuon was the love of her life, her prince Corn. There was nobody who could match him and there had definitely not been anyone who could replace him.

"Kuon?" she asked gently, "May I speak with Isabella for a moment?" she asked, "Is that okay?"

Kuon looked at her and nodded, "I'm going to go take a breather away from the cameras," he said as he pointed in the directions they were. He didn't know what his wife was going to say to their daughter, he just really hoped that he wasn't screwing it up. Kyoko looked over at him with a little pain in her eyes and her heart.

Kyoko turned to concentrate on her daughter and came in beside her, "How's he doing?" she winked with a soft laugh. She knew that Kuon would have his doubts but this was a new experience for Isabella and she was just as good as her parents at hiding how she truly felt.

"He's fun. He listens to me and he gave me advice like a good daddy does. I really like that he's back but he's a little scared," Isabella told her honestly and Kyoko sighed with a nod. "You told me that he was brave and heroic. I think he's a little afraid. I hope he feels better."

"Me too," Kyoko said as she looked at her daughter, "You do understand that Daddy doesn't have any bad feelings about you, right? He's just been away for such a long time that this is all new to him again. You remember when we went down to Kyoto and you were a little scared at meeting the Fuwas?" she asked and Isabella nodded. "It's a little like that but more. Daddy's been away for a while but he doesn't mean any harm, you're such a great girl for understanding and giving Daddy time and understanding. He appreciates that so much," Kyoko said as she wrapped her daughter up in a hug.

"Why is Daddy scared? I want to make him brave like in the stories," Isabella hummed and Kyoko looked down for a brief moment to pause.

"He's really scared of making a mistake. You mean so much to him and he's scared of making a mistake or making you feel bad. It's because of how much he loves us." Kyoko kissed her daughter on the top of her head, still with her arms wrapped around her as she crouched opposite her. "Thank you so much for making him feel welcome and for showing love and understanding to him. Thank you for not being angry with him. It's because of you that Daddy is getting more confident and that he'll stay with us. Thank you."

Isabella saw the tears in her mother's eyes and she placed a hand to her cheek trying to brush away some of them. "It's because of Mummy that Daddy is happy," she said before Kyoko laughed and shook her head.

"No, it's because of both of us," she grinned with a wink. "Mummy will guard the basket, do you want to find Daddy and tell him to come back?" she asked and Isabella nodded with a grin.

Dashing over to where her father was, Isabella grabbed Kuon's hand and he looked down at her with surprise which soon turned into love as he picked her up. "Is it time to go back to be with you and Mummy?" he asked and Isabella nodded. "Well then," Kuon smiled as he kissed her forehead, "Let's do just that."

…

…

"And there," Kyoko grinned as she put the scissors down beside the bathroom sink. She sat back as she looked at her husband. She had learned how to style hair and add makeup as a side hobby when she had been advised to do something other than think about what could have been with Kuon. In the beginning it had been Julie who had taught her with some wigs that she had but Kyoko had enjoyed it so much she had taken some classes in it.

She picked up a mirror as she let her hand go through the light brown strands. Kuon's hair was very similar to Cain's now although his face didn't have that darkness and they had gone with a light brown color which looked dark blond in the right light so that it would be in between the two styles.

As much as she had hated to see those blond strands disappear, keeping him with her was more important and she had been told that hair cuts and makeovers were therapeutic to those who had suffered in the past. She leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips.

"I love you," she smiled as she handed him a mirror.

"Do you think that we could get some contacts?" Kuon asked her as he looked at the new look. It wasn't too different, but if he was just walking down the street people might not notice by the way he looked but his height was a difficult thing to hide.

Kyoko pouted before nodding, "If that's what you need then I think I still have the information you used before as Ren in one of these files, it's just tracking it down," she laughed before bowing her head. "May I ask for something though before we order them?" she said as she felt her heart painfully twisting in her chest. She didn't want to say how scared she was about not being able to see the true Kuon if this is what he needed.

"Okay, you can ask," Kuon nodded to her and Kyoko sighed.

"Please remove your contacts when you're at home if at all possible," she said to him as he looked a little surprised by that request, "I don't mind if you want to conceal the true you to the public but I love your eyes so much. I love the emerald color that can change to a burnt sienna in the right light. Please, if only in the house."

"Okay," Kuon replied as he watched her. "I have a request for you as well."

Kyoko's back straightened and she nodded. She wanted to do anything that she could for him. She wanted to give him anything and everything that he needed. She hadn't been able to give him birthday presents, well except those visits to the memorial site, or Valentines gifts for years. She wanted to make him feel as if she would lasso the moon for him.

"I'd like to go to London," Kuon said as Kyoko froze. She didn't know what to say. "I want to go together, the three of us or even just the two of us," he said as he saw Kyoko smile again as she unfroze. She nodded nervously.

"As long as we're together," she told him before letting her hand go through his hair again. "That's all that matters to me, having you by my side. I'm not going to be selfish and ask for anything more than that."

Kuon looked at her with a bow of his head as he took deep breaths, "I promise that I'll watch all of the acting that you've done the years that I've been away but I need some time to do that. I want to see how you've grown as an actress, maybe we can work together in the future one day," he tried to smile and Kyoko wrapped her arms around him.

"I've missed you so much," she repeated yet again as she felt herself shake and his arms hold her safely and securely to him. She allowed herself to let the tears flow knowing that he was there to protect her and keep her safe.

"I want to stay here with you," he told her, "I don't want you to be alone anymore. I'm really lucky that I didn't come home and find you married to somebody else and with Isabella calling another man her father."

"Never," Kyoko shook her head, "I'd never let that happen. You know how hard it was for me to fall in love. Would you be able to though?" she asked as she looked at him and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. She held his hands in hers. "Would you have been -"

"No." Kuon said honestly. "I wouldn't have been able to. You have no idea how much I love you," he said as Kyoko laughed.

"That's ridiculous," she said as she still tried to dab away her tears. "I know because that's how much I love you. My prince Kuon."

 **End of Chapter Fifteen**

 **Thank you so much for reading**

 **Thank you, reviewers of Chapter Fourteen**

Brennakai, KrisXD, ktoll9, paulagato


	16. Chapter 16 - Surviving the Past

**AN:** I know this chapter is a bit on the shorter side but this is how much energy I have to write with so I really hope you enjoy it and don't think it's too short.

 **Chapter Sixteen – Surviving the Past**

Kyoko sat numbly on the edge of the bed as she heard Isabella reading to Kuon and Kuon helping her with some of the words. She wanted to be excited but she didn't want people to be digging into their business. Her husband was back from the dead but it wasn't as if there was anything else that was special or should be drawing attention. What was making her feel numb was the piece of paper in front of her which was a request for a new passport. Was he planning on flying again?

Kyoko closed her eyes and let her thumb go over the edge of the paper.

…..

…

 _Kyoko came to the information desk of the airport as she did every morning. Her mind had come up with different explanations but the one that seemed most correct wasn't staying in there. She put her hands on the counter and looked at the man opposite her, she didn't even need to check his nametag at this point. "Have there been any -"_

" _unidentifiable people today? No, Hizuri-san, there haven't." Satoshi said as he looked at her, "I know that your husband's passing is -"_

" _Thank you," Kyoko said immediately as she dropped down into a bow. "I'll come again tomorrow. Thank you for listening out for me," she said trying to stop him from saying the words that would cause her heart to shatter. She didn't want them to tell her that she was wasting her time, there was still a chance as minute as it was._

 _What if the plane had just dropped down somewhere and Kuon needed critical attention or maybe it was a small area where they didn't have TV shows and therefore they didn't know who he was and he had amnesia. What about if he had been somewhere where there was no cell service and he had had to trek through the wilderness to even find an airport._

 _He could come back to her. He was just taking a longer time to do so._

…..

…

"That girl is amazingly intelligent," Kuon said as he entered the room and Kyoko opened her eyes and nodded as she attempted to hide how she had felt from him. Her fingers ran up and down the papers that she was holding and she was afraid to talk to him about them. She bowed her head as she placed them down on the bed.

"It's both nature and nurture," Kyoko said as she attempted to make the man she loves smile. She reached up to him, "Sweetheart, can you tell me what's going on in that head of yours right now? I know that it's been some time but I still remember all of the little things about you, I still understand your body language."

Kuon hummed as he looked at the floor, "Do I belong here?" he asked her and Kyoko's eyes widened.

She was terrified of where he wanted to be, she was scared of the fact that he could be standing here in front of her and yet he was telling her that he didn't feel as if he were at home. She wanted to do anything that she could to tell him to stay, to create the home that he wanted.

"Ye-Yes," Kyoko nodded as her voice broke due to her fear, "Yes, you belong here. You don't belong anywhere else, just with me and Isabella," she whispered as she attempted to hide the tears from him. She didn't want to burden him. She needed to remind him that the beginning was going to be the worst part for him and that it would get easier and that they would get through it together.

She didn't know if she was able to make him believe that.

Kyoko felt a few tears slip down again.

…..

…..

 _Kyoko looked out at the world around her as she wrapped the blankets tighter. It didn't make sense. It didn't add up in her head. Everyone was telling her that two months was enough and that they had to have a memorial service for Kuon because they couldn't bury the body. Two months wasn't long enough. He had to turn up again. He had to come back. His return was the only thing that would make sense._

 _Kyoko heard Isabella crying and the color drew from her face. Kyoko could see how much she missed her dad, she would always want to sleep with a hat that Kyoko had had to buy because of how he had looked when she asked him to try it. She loved that hat on him and even if it was just a newsboy cap, Isabella seemed to love it as well._

" _I'll get her," a voice said from the shadows and Kyoko raised her head before seeing Yashiro walk out of the room. Everyone was suffering but they were keeping a close eye on her or her and Julie. How long had Yashiro been here anyway?_

 _Kyoko nervously got to her feet before seeing the light on in the living room. Her eyes widened even more as she noticed that Kuu was out there, how long had he been in Japan? "Fa-fa-father?" she forced out, her voice showing her pain and exhaustion as she rasped out the word. "Wha—" she looked around at the paperwork that was piled in front of Kuu and started to panic._

 _There were pictures of Kuon staring back at her but all she could see was the word '_ _ **deceased**_ _' that seemed to be focused prominently on the documents. "No. No no no no" Kyoko said as she shoved the paperwork off the table. "He's coming back! He's coming back, he's not gone, he wouldn't leave me. He promised me he would come back," she sobbed feeling the heartbreak with every beat._

 _Kyoko grabbed to a piece of paper and looked at it as a very exhausted Kuu looked up at her, "What is this?" she asked and Kuu closed his eyes and took a few inhales. "What is this?" she pointed to it._

" _It's a document about the catering at the memorial," Kuu told her in a very straight forward manner._

" _Kuon wouldn't care about that" Kyoko said as she broke down into tears as the pain seemed to wrap around her neck like a noose. "Father. Kuon wouldn't care about that, he'd care that you haven't found him yet. He'd care about -"_

" _How about flowers or some botanicals?" Kuu asked as Kyoko heard the lifelessness in his voice._

" _Nature," Kyoko whispered as she looked at a picture of her husband, "Kuon loves nature. There has to be nature."_

…

…

Kyoko sat back quickly as she felt hands touching her cheeks and she let her eyes open again to see those emerald ones looking into hers with all the care and concern as she shared with him. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I think that this is a bit…maybe I'm a little ill," she said as she tried to push away her pain. She would take on as much pain as possible if that meant they could be together again.

"I think we're all exhausted," Kuon said to her, "I feel like I'm acting a role that I don't have access to a script for. I think I'm scared of making any mistake that would -"

"No, there's nothing that you could do that would stop me from wanting you here and loving you. You can't accidentally make a mistake, Kuon. You can act however you want or say whatever you want. You want to punch a hole through the wall then go and do it, you need to take a drive to clear your head then I'll wait for you to get back. You can't accidentally make a mistake so bad that I don't love you," she whispered. She paled as she looked at him, she didn't want to add in that she would have no choice but to hate Kuon if he was knowingly violent about Isabella but that wasn't in his nature.

"So, even if the media tries to give me a bad -"

Kyoko stood up as she cut Kuon off and grabbed his cheeks as she forced him to maintain eye contact with her. "I don't care. I realized that, I realized that they can say whatever they want but I love you. I love you so much that sometimes I'm scared I can't breathe properly because of that love. It's the best thing in my life so no, the media is not stealing it from me. You're _my_ Kuon."

"So really anything?" Kuon asked with a weak smile as if this had just dawned on him and Kyoko nodded as she wrapped her arms around him. She held onto him as closely as she possibly could. He finally understood, right? He understood that all she was asking him for was for him to be present and for him to be himself.

"Yes, anything," she giggled as she kissed him numerous times over his cheeks. She felt tears in her eyes. "I never could have found another person like you, Kuon, never" she said as she buried her head in his chest. "I'm beyond thrilled that my prince came back for me."

Kuon held his wife close and nodded before whispering softly, "Thank you."

…..

…..

" _Are you sure a slow recovery is for the best?" Orson asked as he looked over Kuon's body. He turned to the woman who had rescued him as Nadia placed her hands over Kuon's body examining him again. "If we were to speed up the growth cells then we would not have to fear outsiders looking for him."_

" _He is barely surviving," Nadia said as she let her fingers go through Kuon's hair to check for head injuries. "The head is not yet affected but if we do not move quickly," she stated as Orson raised an eyebrow._

" _Are you sure that it is not your heart which is needing the treatment?" he teased her before seeing Nadia place some healing stones on the unconscious body of Kuon Hizuri. "I have seen him in that movie you spoke about. Are you hoping to outlive his wife?"_

" _I am hoping that he will be so thankful that I saved his life that he will marry me," Nadia teased. "I wish to help him because of the good energy that I feel around him. His wife loves him and that is the strength that I feel in his body," she said as she prepared the medicine to give him._

" _You can feel his wife's love off of his body?" Orson asked and Nadia shook her head._

" _Only a man who is loved will love this much in return and only that man would have the energy that allows him to take the medicine. There is someone who loves him. Maybe many but she is special," Nadia smiled. "I hope that she'll like the gift."_

" _I'm sure she will, and who is she?" Orson asked._

" _Kyoko Hizuri," Nadia smiled before tending to her survivor._

 **End of Chapter Sixteen**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you, reviewers of Chapter Fifteen**

Guest, KrisXD, PaulaGaTo, RichkeyZero


	17. Chapter 17 - Finding Your Own Place

**AN:** I know I'm focusing on this one a lot but right now this is what I want to work on since it's so much fun for me. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it.

 **Chapter Seventeen – Finding Your Own Place**

There was a loud bang coming from one of the rooms in the downstairs area of the house and Isabella was nervous to find out what was going on. She didn't want to admit that she had had nightmares where people had taken her daddy away. She wanted to behave well so it wouldn't happen.

Isabella walked over to her mother's craft room. This was different than the den in which she and her mother would play but this room had all of her mother's sewing and craft equipment for when she made her dolls. The yarn doll that Kyoko had made Isabella of her father was one of her most important toys. She saw Kyoko putting her sewing machine into a box as she knelt in the middle of the room with a sweat band across her forehead.

Isabella looked inside to see that the room was now mostly empty and her mother looked exhausted as all the items were in boxes. "Mummy?" Isabella asked with a tilt of her head as she hugged to one of the toys her Dad had bought her at the Disney store. "What's going on? Where's your craft stuff?"

Kyoko grinned as she looked over trying to catch her breath, she reached out for Isabella's hand. "Well, Mummy had to make this room nice for Daddy to use. See, Daddy needs his own space which he gets to make his own. He gets to decorate it however he wants and soon we'll be getting some new furniture that he picks out."

"Don't you and Daddy sleep in the same bedroom?" Isabella asked confused.

"Yes, we do," Kyoko grinned, "and Mummy and Daddy are both going to share the space in there. We're going to fill it with all of our clothes and books and everything like that, but this is a special place just for Daddy to use as he wants to. It's his private room, like Mommy has her own office."

"Are your crafts going somewhere?" Isabella asked as she picked up a box containing numerous buttons and zips. "Are they going away?"

"Mummy's going to put them in her office," Kyoko grinned before pulling her daughter in for a hug. "Daddy has always had times when he's liked going off by himself, now he has this room so he can be alone if he needs to be but he'll still stay with us. Everything that Daddy needs, we'll get for him but…there's something that I can't give him but you can if you want to."

Isabella blinked, "What can I give Daddy?"

"Why don't you draw him a picture?" Kyoko asked as she knew her daughter was an amazing artist, "Something special that you want to share with him. You don't have to do it right away but I think that your dad would love that. Something special between the two of you."

Isabella nervously looked down, "but—but what if my drawing isn't good enough or he doesn't like the colors."

Kyoko smiled to her daughter, "I know that you and your father still need to reconnect and get to know one another again but trust me, if you draw it with enthusiasm and passion, your father will be overcome by emotions. He really wants you to be happy, he's just, he's so sorry that he missed all of the years that he did even though it's not his fault. If you share with him that happiness, he'll be thrilled and he'll love it, okay?"

Isabella nodded, "Okay."

…..

…..

After getting Isabella her breakfast, Kyoko kissed her daughter on the top of her head. "I'm going to see if Daddy is going to wake up to be with us," she said as she wrapped her arms around her and kissed her cheek.

"Mummy, you're very happy," Isabella giggled and Kyoko nodded.

"I'm very happy to be with my loved ones," Kyoko told her before smoothing down her hair with such affection. "I'll be right back and hopefully with your father."

Isabella smiled as she ate the rice in front of her and smiled at the egg on top. She was still trying to think of what to draw her father because she was still trying to decide what her father liked. There were so many stories that she had been told by her mother but she hadn't been with her dad for a long time. He was the prince that she had dreamed about though, but she couldn't see him slaying any dragons yet.

She ate the rice carefully before seeing her mother and father come down with her mother gently guiding her father to where he could sit down. "I'm not telling you to eat a lot but you should at least sit with the people who love you and care about you, Kuon," she said before winking to Isabella. "Isn't that right?" she asked her daughter who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, Daddy you should eat with us," she said with an adorable smile. "Mummy makes the best meals ever."

Kyoko looked at Kuon as he nodded and she went into the kitchen to get him the food that she had saved for him. Kyoko looked at Isabella with a grin, "After breakfast there's a surprise for you," she smiled. "Besides, I have a light schedule today with just some work this evening. Hopefully we can work together on your surprise."

Kuon looked at her suspiciously before turning to his daughter, "Are you going to give me any hints, Bella?" he asked knowing that was the name that she liked the most. He was really trying to fit in with her preferences and Kyoko's responsibilities.

"Nope," Isabella grinned, "because Mummy worked really really hard on it."

"Then I should be excited to see it," Kuon nodded as he started to eat the meal in front of him whilst Kyoko just watched him again. She couldn't help but watch him do everything. He had been gone for such a long time from their lives. She wanted the good memories to all come pouring back to her all at once.

Isabella smiled as she looked down at her breakfast and started humming to herself. Kyoko watched her and reached for Kuon's hand which wasn't holding his chopsticks. She grinned to him as she ate her own food with her other hand. The two ate whilst listening to Isabella's innocent humming.

"You've got a real talent for music," Kuon smiled softly as he looked towards his daughter who blushed, "I know that you didn't get that from me," he said as he turned towards Kyoko.

"Do you know that they say that the gift for music is somewhat hereditary," Kyoko said before raising an eyebrow, "Do I have to remind you of how fast you learned that song for Dark Moon or the way that you sing and don't let other people know about," she said as Kuon paused and laughed.

"I can't believe that you remember that," he said and Kyoko rolled her eyes.

"As if I could forget anything about you," she said before looking at Isabella, "You should sing for us, right?" she asked and her daughter nodded quickly. Kuon looked down at the bowl which was now half empty.

"Maybe someday," he said and Kyoko brought his hand to her lips and pressed a kiss to it.

"Okay, maybe someday," she nodded. She looked at Kuon again and saw that he was thinking about something and turning it over in his mind and she wanted to know what that was. She hummed as she watched him but found that he was concentrating more on the tablecloth.

"So, we need to get ready for school," she said to Isabella, "Why don't you go wash up?" she asked and Isabella nodded before getting down from the table. Kyoko looked at Kuon and squeezed his hand again. "Do you want to tell me what you're thinking about?" she asked with a hum. "I'm not going to ju-"

"How do you feel about getting a dog?" Kuon asked as Kyoko froze. She laughed a little as what he said sank in.

"I think it would be cute but can we pick a breed other than a beagle," she teased with him playfully. Kuon looked up at her and then smiled weakly.

"I'm serious," he said quietly, "How do you feel if I were to adopt a puppy?"

"Would that make you feel better?" Kyoko asked, "Is that something that you'd like to do?" she saw him nod and her face turned excited. "Then I think it's time that we get a dog," she said. "You know, some people advised me to get a therapy dog but I didn't want to have that much responsibility but I'd love a dog. I am serious though, please do not get a beagle and give it a name like Reino," she said with a teasing shiver.

Kuon looked at her again, "So, we could go to the shelter today?" he asked and Kyoko nodded before standing up and going over to hug him.

"That sounds like a great plan for the day," she said as she kissed him on the cheek, resting her forehead against the side of his head. What she really wanted most was for him to be happy and if getting a dog would help him feel more grounded then she definitely wanted that for him.

…

…

Kyoko had decided to keep the main surprise from Kuon until they had adopted the puppy. They had managed to go to the pet shop in hopes of getting food, dishes, toys, and anything else a puppy might need. Kuon seemed to be thrilled by the idea of a new addition to their small family which led for Kyoko to get excited as well. If a canine addition to their family kept Kuon with them it was more than worth it.

"How about this guy?" Kuon asked as he looked at one of the puppies for adoption at the pet shop. These were puppies that needed a good home and it would save them a trip. He could still sense that he was being watched and the owner of the dogs had wanted a selfie once she had figured out that he was himself but overall it seemed as if he was settling in more.

Kyoko smiled as she watched Kuon and looked at the tiny black Shiba puppy in his arms.

"He's very cute," Kyoko said as she stepped forward and allowed the puppy to sniff her before petting him on the head. "He seems to like you," she said as the puppy barked happily. "Why don't we get him? Is it a him?"

"Yes, it's a him," the owner said as she looked at the couple. "He's very shy most of the time but he gets happy when he can sense if someone is a good person," she said as she looked at Kuon and then blushed again. "I'd be very honored if you were to adopt him."

Kuon pet the puppy on the top of his head, "Is there anything that we'd need to know about him?" he asked and the owner smiled.

"He's a good dog, but sometimes he needs his space because he's a little socially anxious to those he doesn't know very well," she said as Kyoko leaned up to kiss Kuon's cheek, placing her hand on his shoulder to do so.

"That reminds me of somebody else right now," she said as she rubbed his upper back.

"We'll take him, right?" Kuon turned back and Kyoko smiled happily.

"Yes, we'll take him," Kyoko agreed, "Can we name him?" she asked and the owner nodded. "How about it, Kuon, do you have a name for him?"

"How about Cain?" Kuon asked as he continued to pet the puppy.

"Perfect," Kyoko said as she kissed his arm with a delighted smile.

 **End of Chapter Seventeen**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you, reviewers of Chapter Sixteen**

Brennakai, KrisXD, ktoll9, PaulaGaTo, RichkeyZero

Also to: Sesshykagslvr who reviewed Chapter Eleven


	18. Chapter 18 - Standing Strong and Solo

**AN:** So, it's another chapter of this 😊 hope you're still enjoying it.

 **Chapter Eighteen – Standing Strong and Solo**

Kyoko grinned as she watched Cain sleep in his new dog bed in Kuon's new office. After they had gotten Cain home, Kyoko had shown Kuon his own separated area and he had decided on a few pieces of furniture to put in there. Kyoko had been able to go ahead and get them and they had set the room up as an office with a desk, sofa, and bookcases as well as Cain's items.

Thankfully everything seemed to be getting better.

"Are you sure it's okay to spend this much?" Kuon asked as he pet Cain's head one more time before standing up and going to sit beside Kyoko. He looked down guiltily. His money was gone. Most of the things that he had owned were gone. He felt that he was just leeching off of his family.

"How much did you spend on Princess Rosa again?" Kyoko smiled to him, "besides it's your money, Kuon. It's our money, remember when you said that right before we got married. It's our money and if this is what makes you happy then it's never a waste," she gestured to the new purchases.

Kuon looked at her softly before looking forward, "Am I making too much of this?" he asked and Kyoko rolled her eyes.

"Maybe, but I'm happy to have you in whatever way I can," she said as she wrapped her arms around him. She looked down awkwardly. She knew that they had discussed what had happened with Yashiro and what had happened with Lory and they had seen Kuu a lot but there was somebody who Kyoko couldn't bring herself to talk about even with her husband.

She closed her eyes as she tried to relax herself.

…

…

" _I don't understand what the problem is," Kanae said as she put down the letter on the table, "Just find some random actor and pay him. I mean, that's all that the magazine is looking for. It's kind of a dumb and desperate way to sell yourself but you have one of the biggest roles in one of the biggest dramas since Dark Moon. Just pay somebody to pose with you."_

 _Kyoko stuck her chin in the air as she looked at the birthday cards that she had just taken down. Isabella was four and she had been given a lot of presents and a lot of cards but she should have her father. He should be there to make her feel as warm and safe as Kuon had always made her feel._

" _I told them that I would pose solo but I can't just pay somebody to act as my boyfriend, Moko-chan," Kyoko tried to tell her. She looked through the cards again. He would have loved to celebrate her birthday with her and as she thought about this, her hand shook. She placed it down to control it and took a few breaths in._

 _"I don't get why they want to only show celebrity couples but that's their gimmick." Kanae shrugged, "I've paid people before, want me to dig ou-"_

" _No." Kyoko whispered as she placed her fist hard on the table and tried to keep herself from breaking. "Sorry, can we just -" Kyoko felt a few tears slip down her cheeks as her eyes caught onto the picture of her and Kuon where Kuon was holding the tiny baby as they got home from the hospital._

" _So, just go out with a guy," Kanae said before watching her. "I know that love isn't all that it's cracked up to be but you're a really good catch and if you just wanted to date casually then there are many actors who would -"_

" _Please, just stop," Kyoko whispered as she stared in front of her. "Moko, please don't…"_

" _You're just as washed up as you told me you were with Fuwa. Look, I didn't want to say this but Kuon was just a guy, he was one guy in your life and it might be best to find another. I don't want to see you upset anymore, it's as if you've devoted the rest of your life to -"_

" _Please leave, Kotonami-san," Kyoko said as a dark shadow started to twist around her and Kanae froze._

" _Kyoko, crap, I'm really sorry," she said quickly but Kyoko didn't even look at her. She gestured to the door._

" _Please leave," she said as her heart broke over the loss of her friendship, "My relationship with other men is not a topic for discussion. I've made my choice and until you're ready to accept it then I don't want to see you." Kyoko remained very still as she dealt with the grief she had been carrying around for years. Maybe he would be saying the same thing to her. Maybe he just wanted her to be happy._

 _She didn't know how she could be completely happy without him._

…..

…

"You know," Kyoko said as she watched Cain whilst Kuon had his arms around her, "The very scariest thing about losing somebody is knowing that they are never going to be older than they were at the time of their death. I mean, if you hadn't come back then you would still be twenty-six forever and I would be ninety looking back at my husband as he was at twenty-six," Kyoko shivered before bowing her head. "I'm so happy I won't have to do that."

"Kyoko if this is about the fou-" Kuon said and Kyoko placed a finger on his lips and shook her head.

"No, this is about knowing how much I've missed you," Kyoko grinned before she saw Kuon look at her nervously. He looked down again and started rubbing his hands together slowly. "Is there something wrong?" she asked and Kuon sighed.

"I really would like to find my feet first but do you think my dad would help me get into acting again?" he asked and Kyoko grinned.

"Your father would do anything for you," she tried to remind him, "but you're one of the most talented actors that I've ever known, I don't see any reason why he wouldn't want to use your star power for LME's benefit, besides, I'm going to repeat that he would do anything for you because of how much he loves you, nepotism or not, he loves you."

"So," Kuon sighed, "What are we going to do about Fuwa?"

Kyoko frowned as she looked at the ground and then turned her head, "Do we _need_ to do anything about him? I know that he -"

"He was randomly on the same flight that I was and yet we didn't see each other at the airport and he came back six years later but only looking two years older. I think we can say that we crashed in the same area and maybe they were healing him too but he left or he was released from care earlier or they just didn't want to help him," Kuon shrugged and Kyoko looked up with a heavy sigh.

"Can't you just think about yourself for once?" she asked before looking down. "I don't think he knows. I don't think they would have told him what happened to him. Do you thi—"

Kuon sighed, "If he knew then there would be a way of them getting hurt. They saved my life and I don't want to hurt them especially in a way where it might look like _we_ hurt them."

Kyoko paled and then shook her head slowly, "They wouldn't have told him," she said but even she wasn't sure that she believed in those words. She nodded to herself but she still looked worried. They had said there would be repercussions and the worst thing would be for them to kill Kuon in front of her. She didn't want to witness that.

"So, how about the two of us do something fun when you have your next break from work?" he asked and Kyoko smiled happily as she nodded eagerly.

"That would be great, I haven't actu-" she froze before bowing her head, "I don't spend a lot of time with other people," she said as she stared at the ground. She didn't want to say it or have him feel guilty about it. She couldn't see the point of spending her energy with people who she could lose or who didn't respect her decisions. Did that make her weak?

Kuon stared at her and then smiled sadly, "I'm sorry," he told her, "I didn't mean to cause that to happen. I would have hoped that you would have still kept your friendships but…I'm really sorry if I caused that harm to you."

"All I want is you to be here," Kyoko tried to tell him as she thought about how she had lost Kanae. She had prioritized her deceased husband above her friendship. Was that alright? She had met Ren around the same time as she had met Kanae but she had known Corn for longer. She just didn't want to have anyone force her to give him up. He didn't need to hear that though. Kuon needed to concentrate on being alive.

"I'm sorry if I caused anything to happen between you and Kotonami-san," he told her as he continued to look at her. Kyoko's mouth opened in surprise but her look softened as she remembered how he could always read her mind.

"It's not your fault at all," Kyoko told him, "Don't say that. I made the right decision for me." She saw Cain getting a little restless in his sleep. "You watch Cain, I'm going to go and get Isabella," she said as she ran her fingers through his hair. She really just wanted to tell him how much she loved him and never move from beside him but there were other parts of her life to consider.

…

…..

Kyoko's chest tightened as she walked up to the school. This was the best school for Isabella's age in Japan and the safety of the children was something that Kyoko had noted and read up on so to keep her daughter, their daughter safe. Isabella was a living part of Kuon and that needed to be kept safe.

So, when Kyoko found herself met with news crews, police sirens, and an ambulance, her heart stopped in her chest. What was going on here? She could see the majority of the teachers wearing expensive clothing and looking out at the parents. What was going on here?

She felt a few cameramen take some pictures of her but she was used to ….

Kyoko's eyes narrowed and she gave a more severe look before marching up to where the principal of the school was. She usually acted with respect and class, usually not letting her fame act as any kind of a barrier but this was enough. "Excuse me," she said as she faced the man opposite her, "Please do not tell me that this is all because my daughter has her father back."

"I am not to comment on the situation," he replied and Kyoko raised an eyebrow before sighing.

"I'm picking Isabella up today, I would like to know when I can get my daughter," she said before hearing Isabella's voice and turned around to face her child being asked questions by reporters.

"He's really fun. I don't know where he was but I'm happy he's back," she said in her adorable way and Kyoko came over to her, ignoring the people now trying to ask her questions.

One of the cameramen leaned in closer, almost shoving Kyoko out the way but she turned back to them.

"Are you really that desperate to have a story?" she asked as she glared at him, "To involve our daughter is despicable. Isabella, we're going home," she said and Isabella reached out to take her mother's hand understanding this determination and dislike of those around them.

"How is your se-" one reporter asked and Kyoko turned around.

"It's wonderful," she bit back, "shame yours isn't as good," with that she was taking her daughter with her and trying not to show how utterly repulsed she was by this turnout. She did _not_ want to leave the two people she loves most to deal with this alone during the next time Isabella had to be met.

 **End of Chapter Eighteen**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you for reviewing Chapter Seventeen:**

Brennakai, Crazy4Animation, KrisXD, ktoll9, RichkeyZero

 _I reeeeeeeally want Ren to be in January's Skip Beat chapter but I'm guessing like May when the Momiji audition arc is over._


	19. Chapter 19 - Animal Traits

**AN:** Wow, this fic came out before Awake and yet is so far behind it. I hope you still enjoy both of them. I just want to remind you that though Bella is in both of them she is a bit different because in Alive she is raised by Kyoko and in Awake she is raised by Kuon. Hope you enjoy

 **Chapter Nineteen – Animal Traits**

Kyoko paced the hallway in the house whilst holding onto her phone. Even after all of these years, she still remembered Kanae's phone number. She remembered how eager she once was to have it because Moko was her first best friend and also her first female friend. Kyoko didn't want to say that she had hurt or disappointed Kanae and she definitely didn't want to focus on how her friend had hurt her with those comments. Maybe she could pass it off as just a difference of opinion.

Of course. Differences in opinions were the primary reason why friendships ended but they were also a reason why you could find a way to make the friendship work again. She sat down on the staircase and dialed the number she remembered.

"We're sorry, the phone number you have dialed is either not a valid phone number or has been disconnected."

Kyoko's spine straightened at that as she looked at the phone. She had left it too long and now another one of her friendships had turned to ashes and been swept up by the wind. She sighed. Maybe it wasn't meant to be, Kanae hadn't really understood the reason as to why she was so hesitant to let Kuon go. Maybe she wouldn't understand why she was back together with him at all.

Kyoko ran her fingers through her hair before seeing Cain come up to her and start bouncing. She laughed. He was cute. In fact, the puppy was so cute that Kyoko could put her confidence in the fact that Cain would help Kuon recover from his return from the unknown. She picked him up and walked over to where Kuon was sitting with Bella.

"Hi, my loves," she said as Cain got down and tried to play with Kuon a little bit. "What are the two of you doing?"

"I was showing Dad all the things I've collected about animals," Bella smiled happily and Kyoko nodded. She hoped that her daughter and husband could bond over nature and animals. Over the past years whenever Bella had talked about animals or identified a new breed or species, she had been reminded of Kuon. As Corn he had taught her a lot about nature and as himself even more so. It was seeing those kinds of things in Isabella that kept Kuon alive in her heart.

"Your father's a huge fan of nature," Kyoko said and Bella nodded.

"I think I'm a big fan because my parents were, especially my dad. My mom loved flowers and animals but she was a little hesitant about hiking until she saw my dad's passion for it. Your grandfather loves adventures and quests and he liked being physically active. I think that's one of the things that he passed down to me, that love for the open wild and for the nature that lived in it," Kuon attempted to bond with his daughter. He was pretty sure that she had already heard these things from her grandparents themselves but he hoped that he could inspire her to take more wonder in the world around her and think of him whilst she did it. He just wanted a connection to her.

…

….

 _Kyoko grinned as she watched her daughter with her notebook. She knew what she was doing and Kyoko was eager to encourage the type of imagination and creativity that a girl had when she wrote her letter to Santa. She never had a childhood like the one that Isabella had. Yes, she had only had one parent and that had been her mother but the similarities ended there._

 _Her daughter was so loved but Kyoko knew within her heart that she was only giving half the love to Isabella that she deserved, that she would have been given. She could imagine Kuon trying to have all these American traditions around the house, trying to talk about the great Christmases that he had had as a kid. Sharing those things with her._

 _He had died too early, much too early._

" _So, darling," Kyoko said as she came to sit next to her daughter, "What are you asking Santa for?" she said trying to come up with a list of things to get for her. Isabella looked at her mother and then down at her list._

" _I'm not asking Santa to bring me anything," she said and Kyoko looked at her curiously, "I'm asking for Santa to bring my loved ones things instead. I think all the people who are special to me deserve to have good things brought to them," she said and Kyoko laughed softly._

" _You're just like your father," she told her and Bella blinked._

" _I thought this was just like you, what do you mean I'm just like Daddy?" she said confused and Kyoko wrapped her up in her arms._

" _Your father was the type of person who would always spoil me and give to others. It didn't matter what the price was, if you were important to him then he would give to you. He gave me so many material goods and now I'm just like him, the only thing he ever asked for was for me to love him and to keep being his wife and he told me that I only had to do it if he had earned it," Kyoko dabbed at some tears on her cheeks._

 _Kuon had died trying to get home to see his family. He had died because he wanted to be with them. That was always most important to him._

" _What would Daddy like to get if he were here?" Isabella asked and Kyoko smiled._

" _Love, that was all that your father needed," Kyoko said before looking down. "He loved animals though, birds especially. I think of him every time I see a wren."_

 _Isabella smiled, "Can I make an animal book?" she asked and Kyoko looked at her, "and pretend that I'm giving it to Daddy. I want to make a book of all the animals that I see that Daddy can't," she told her mother and Kyoko nodded slowly._

" _I'm sure that if he is looking over us then he'll love to see you get in touch with nature," Kyoko whispered as she felt her chest hurt again. If only Kuon was still with them._

…

…

Kuon smiled as Isabella talked about all the different birds that she had seen and how she loved looking at the wrens with her mother which had made her dad laugh at that. Isabella had always been told the stories of Corn and of how amazing Ren was. It made Kyoko happy to see her loved ones bonding so much.

"How about we go camping sometime?" she proposed and Kuon looked at her with a smile.

"That sounds amazing but are you sure that you two are up for it?" he asked and Kyoko laughed again.

"You don't trust my wilderness skills?" she asked and Kuon smiled.

"I think that you enjoy having modern comforts too much," he actually told her very honestly. Kyoko rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him to tell him not to have such an opinion of her. Sure, she hadn't taken Isabella camping before but it wasn't the bugs and grass that bothered her, she could easily sleep outside in a tent and catch fish with a stick. She wasn't some pampered beauty queen. She had been wary of other people though, mainly protecting herself and Isabella if some creepy man found them.

Although she had been known for her superhuman abilities, she was still a woman and she had to guard her precious husband who had the same DNA as her late father. Isabella was far too valuable to her and she wouldn't let anyone come close to hurting her.

"How does that sound to you, Bella?" he asked her as Isabella looked up at him with an excited smile.

"That's fun, you'd come too, right Daddy?" she asked and Kuon wrapped his arms around her.

"Sure would," he said and Kyoko watched the two of them, this was how she had wanted a family and home life, the three of them together. She had wished for this and asked for this so many times and she knew how lucky she was to get it. She looked at the two of them before pausing, "Will you two be okay if I go and get some groceries for dinner?" she asked and Kuon nodded.

…..

….

Kyoko was smiling to herself as she looked at all of the ingredients. Now that Kuon would be eating dinner with them again and now that his happiness was on the rise, Kyoko was thrilled to be cooking for the three of them and hopefully Isabella would grow up with the feeling of one of those families you read about who do everything together.

She wanted to figure out what meals she could make where Kuon would eat the majority of it without feeling any pain. Isabella wasn't that picky of an eater so there was a lot of possibilities. Kyoko grinned as she held up a bag of vegetables.

As she was counting the number of carrots to buy, she saw Kanae on the other side of the market. She felt her heart bursting as memories of when she would rush up to her entered her head. Maybe those days were all done with.

Kyoko saw her look behind her and then a guy approached her. Hopefully this guy was good enough for her. Maybe it was a dream of hers that she would one day see Hiou and Kanae together. Maybe this man, who was extremely good looking, was her true love. Kyoko wanted to feel happy for her friend. Kanae would know how important being in love with someone was. She'd have the same feelings that Kyoko would have.

At least her friend was doing well. At least she was back home in Japan rather than starring in those international films. Kyoko sighed and decided to concentrate on her own family, she wanted to think about how much Kuon and Isabella would enjoy the dish that she would cook them.

As she turned to go around the corner, Kyoko felt someone approach her and tried to control her breathing. She turned to see Kanae standing there.

"Hi," Kanae said with a weak smile, "I thought that was you, it's been a long time."

"Yeah," Kyoko said as she looked at her feet. She remembered being alone in school and how she had never really had any female friends. She thought about all of those movies where friends promise that they wouldn't let a guy get in between them. She thought about how disappointed Kuon would have been if he had lived through that. "It's been a while."

"I heard about Kuon, that's great news," Kanae said and Kyoko nodded again.

Kyoko felt as if she was staring into a black hole, she didn't know how she was supposed to act in this type of situation. She was trying to run away into her own mind when she felt Kanae poke her in the forehead.

"You really think that I'm still mad at you?" she smiled and Kyoko paused, "Now do I get some Kyurara or can we start being friends again."

 **End of Chapter Nineteen**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Eighteen**

Brennakai, KrisXD, ktoll9, RichkeyZero


	20. Chapter 20 - Tracking Them

**AN:** Thank you for your patience in the update of this fic, I hope you enjoy

 **Chapter Twenty – Tracking Them**

"You're not mad at me?" Kyoko asked confused as she watched her friend, she really hoped that was the truth because though she refused to give up Kuon, she did want to have a friendship with Kanae. They had always been there for each other because they were both members of the dreaded Love Me section. Kyoko smiled as she bowed her head.

"Well, I'm getting a little irritated right now that you don't believe me and have to question it," Kanae said honestly and Kyoko nodded, "but for the most part, no. I'm sorry myself. I really would like to work on building a friendship together."

Kyoko nodded. She couldn't believe this, it felt as if she was far too lucky. She could get her best friend back and her husband had returned. She bowed her head with a smile as her body started to shake. She just hadn't registered how alone she had felt recently. As a single mother she had to keep moving and prioritizing Isabella but now she might be able to have fun for herself some more.

"I'd really like that," she said before looking at the guy who she was with, she bowed down feeling very anxious. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said as she looked up at him, "Hizuri Kyoko. Nice to meet you, are you -"

"Kane's boyfriend," he told her and Kyoko smiled happily. "We've been together for a while," he bowed himself, "My manners are lacking, I'm Yamamoto Takeru," he told her and Kanae blushed a deep red. "I'm an act-"

"You're an actor? I've never worked with you," Kyoko cut him off with a smile and Takeru shook his head.

"No. I did try my hand at acting when I was younger but I'm actually an acting teacher. I found that sharing what I had learned as an actor would be helpful to my students. I actually faced a few of Kanae-chan's rejections when I first met her but she liked my perseverance." He laughed weakly and Kyoko could see how one might really like him. "I thought that I'd have to get back into acting to even have a shot with her."

"It's not that he can't act," Kanae said as her face still showed that she wasn't used to having a boyfriend or at least she wasn't used to telling Kyoko that she had a boyfriend. "He's done some dramas but it takes a lot of skill and dedication to make your life's goal helping other people feel comfortable with acting."

"I agree," Kyoko nodded, "I think that's a great way to help others."

Kyoko paused, she didn't know whether or not to ask this of Kanae. It had been a long time since they had seen one another and she didn't know how Kuon would feel about the extra exposure if they were to do it but she had ideas of a double date happening. That would be a lot of fun and it would allow her to find out whether Takeru was actually right for Moko. Her boyfriend had to be perfect.

"Double date," Kyoko blurted out and Takeru looked at Kanae, "I'm sorry, I blurted that out of the blue but would you want to do it, a double date?" she asked and Kanae nodded with a smile.

"That sounds nice," she said slowly and Takeru grinned.

"Definitely," he said as Kyoko felt giddy inside. She was making up with her best friend after so long of them being separated. She wanted to connect with Kanae again as well as focus on the fact that Kuon had returned. It finally felt as if she were able to live. Hopefully this wouldn't be too much of a strain on her husband.

…..

…..

"What kind of bird is that?" Bella asked excitedly as she looked through her binoculars the next morning. Kuon had been debating over the idea of going out on a morning walk and he had said that he wanted to observe nature. Since she loved animals, Isabella had wanted to join him so that she could spend some more precious time with her father. Going to look at nature with him was more than exciting.

"That's pretty neat," Kuon said as he looked up, "It's a sparrow but it's not the usual type of sparrow that you find around here," he told her as he got down to her level with her. He loved nature and he always had. When he had told Kyoko that he wanted to fly, he had meant it although he knew that humans could never do it without machinery.

That morning Isabella had been impressed by his knowledge of plants and animals and flowers. When she was growing up, there had been one boy in her first year class who had said that he loved being able to plant flowers with his mother, he was teased for that. Apparently boys and girls were supposed to have very different interests and to these boys, a boy liking flowers was strange. Kuon seemed to have confidence that he knew about nature.

"Do you want to plant something?" Bella asked him and Kuon blinked at her.

He grinned, he was glad that he could use nature to bond with Bella. He had heard stories about fathers who had run out on expecting mothers and then returned years later only to be told that they were unwanted by their families. He had feared that Bella would treat him in the same way but she had been open and understanding. Those were traits that Kyoko had raised her to have.

"Yes, I would love to do that with you, Bella," Kuon grinned to her as the two of them looked at the surrounding nature. "So, do you think we should plant something edible or something pretty like the flowers."

Bella hummed as she thought about this before closing her eyes and bowing her head, a Kuon style smile appearing on her face. "If we cook something edible then Mom will be able to make it into a meal. Mom loves cooking and I think that if you gave her the ingredients as a gift, she'd love it even more."

"Good thinking," Kuon nodded, "So later we can go and check out the different seeds that we could get. It's going to take a long time for some of the plants to grow so we'll have to be patient and try to take good care of them," he tried to explain. He wished that he had been able to do this earlier with Isabella. He could imagine himself with a three-year-old telling them all about plants and having their eyes light up with amazement at the idea. Bella was too old for that kind of a reaction.

Bella grinned as she held onto her dad's hand, "Then you'll have to be here to see how they grow," she told him and Kuon smiled.

"I hope to never leave the two of you ever again," he told her with complete honesty. He didn't want to one day leave his two girls and never come back. Coming back to a family that was older than he had remembered leaving them was hard enough but doing it twice would be something he could never forgive himself for. This life with his wife and daughter was what he wanted most. It would be devastating to even think about losing it.

"Hi, I hoped that I would be able to catch up with you two," Kyoko said as she appeared behind them. It looked as if she had used her powers to be able to catch up with them. Kuon laughed and watched as Isabella went to hug her mother.

"We were just talking about the different birds who are out this time of morning," he told them and smiled at Isabella.

Kyoko grinned, walking over to him to kiss his cheek affectionately, "Is that right?" she asked. She grinned at their daughter, "Were you two able to find anything interesting?"

"Yeah, we saw different birds," Isabella told her before going over to take her dad's hand. "And Daddy said that we will be able to grow some pot…or grow some plants in a pot," she said and Kyoko paused, looking at Kuon very slowly.

"The second one," he nodded and Kyoko went back to smiling, "Bella came up with the idea of growing something edible together and then when it's all grown and ready to use, that we can give it to you to use in a meal. That is if that's okay with you?"

"That's definitely okay with me," Kyoko nodded before wrapping her arms around Bella, "That's a really really great idea, Bella. Then we can all enjoy it as a family."

"Exactly," Bella smiled happily, "Daddy and I can grow the plants with love and Mommy, you can cook with love."

"As a loving family," Kuon grinned and Kyoko closed her eyes, very happy that she was part of this family.

…..

…..

Sho frowned as he found yet another magazine article talking about how talented Kyoko was and how she had become the most popular and well known actress in Japan and she was considered extremely lucky to be married to the "back from the dead" Kuon Hizuri who still had a huge number of fans and followers within Japan.

Sho might as well have come back from the dead himself but people weren't interested on focusing on that aspect of it. The only thing he could think of that linked the two of them together was that they had boarded the same flight and that had been the cause of their disappearance and so called death but nobody had known where that plane had landed.

All they had known was that they had crashed at the same time, been recorded as having died at the same time, and Sho had remembered having to survive in a jungle whereas Hizuri was quiet about what had happened. He didn't know how the two of them had aged so slowly as well with HIzuri definitely having more slower aging and Sho wasn't going to believe the gossip that Hizuri knew how to take care of his skin.

Maybe if he went back there, he'd find the answers.

As he sat outside one of the rooms where he was going to have to audition for a runway, something that he didn't think that Hizuri would need to do, he was approached by a man who looked as if he had come out of the Jumanji movie as a safari hunter. What kind of madness was this? He bet that Hizuri never had to deal with something like this.

"May I talk to you?" the man asked him and Sho paused before shrugging, "I was hoping that you could help me. Seeing your strange circumstances, I thought that you'd be ideal to help me find what I'm looking for."

"I've been in the jungle before," Sho said before rolling his eyes, "but I don't want to talk about it so if there's some kind of plant or animal that you've set your mind on tracking."

"No," the man shook his head, "I was hoping that you'd help me locate the fountain of youth."

Sho stared at him. Okay, this guy was crazy.

"It could bring down Kuon Hizuri," the man continued and Sho turned to face him.

That was a much more attractive offer.

 **End of Chapter Twenty**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you to those who reviewed Chapter Nineteen**

Ashenvale, brennakai, Guest, paulagato

 **Response to Reviews**

They definitely have different upbringings but I love that they are wanting to be a happy family. I hope I was able to answer people's questions about Kanae 😊


	21. Chapter 21 - The Grief of Kuu Hizuri

**AN: Hope you enjoy this fic**

 **Chapter Twenty One – The Grief of Kuu Hizuri**

 _Kuu couldn't sleep and he didn't know if he would ever get the tears back that he had already cried. His son was dead and this house felt like a tomb filled with memories of him. He could remember the little boy running around, laughing, kicking his little legs up in the air as he told him all about his day. Kuu could feel Kuon in his arms, the difference between the newborn baby he cradled in his arms, to the four-year-old he would have on his back, to the eight year old who would nervously ask for a hug because he wanted to feel like an adult._

 _Kuu could physically feel his son in his arms. He could feel where his head had been against his chest when they had discussed acting. He could feel the way his arms wrapped around his neck on Father's Day and how Kuon loved celebrating both Mother's Day and Father's Day._

 _Kuu's attention turned to a photograph on the wall which was of Kuon, Kyoko, and Isabella. He would never be there to be the father he was meant to be, that Kuu knew that he would be. He would never get the joy of hugging his daughter and of celebrating with him. He had failed his little boy. He should have done more to help him but Kuu wasn't delusional to think that he actually had control over airplanes and it had been a tragic event. Nobody could have seen it happening._

" _I'll do my best for them, son," Kuu promised as he put a trembling hand to the photograph. His son had left behind his wife and daughter, Kuu wanted to make sure that his granddaughter and daughter-in-law were never lacking. He wanted to provide for them._

 _Acting didn't make him feel powerful any longer. He needed to provide for them._

 _He had an acting scene to do that morning and he wanted to get out of it, he wanted to just make any excuse to get out of it and to hide in his bed, trying to fill the void that his son had left in his heart, that gap would never be healed and he could jam as many memories of Kuon in there but it wouldn't be the same as having a living, breathing, Kuon._

 _He had to leave. "I promise," he whispered as he gazed into his son's eyes realizing that he'd never grow up, he'd never age and live a full life, he would always be this age, "I promise that I'll do all that I can for them. I promise, son."_

….

….

"So," Kuu said on the phone as he sat in his office at LME, "Julie and I will meet with you and Aiko at the end of next month to discuss what projects you're interesting in supporting financially…well, thank you very much, we really do look forward to the meal and of course all of the talent is so tremendously grateful for your sponsorship…have a good rest of your day, contact me if anything comes up."

Kuon looked up at his father as Kuu put the phone down. Kyoko had taken Isabella to look at safer schools where they wouldn't use her as a pawn in their sick and twisted game to get a selfie with Kuon. The two of them wanted something safe and somewhere where Bella would thrive and grow stronger. Kuon had suggested that he stay out of the way so that the cameras and paparazzi wouldn't make the problem worse.

When Kuu had heard that Kuon was going to be spending the day alone, he had immediately asked Kuon to spend the day with him but the few phone calls and tasks seemed to be taking longer than either of them had expected. Kuon had fallen asleep on the sofa in Kuu's office but during the last phone conversation had woken up.

"Dad, if this is important work business and if I'm just in the way -" Kuon began but Kuu cut him off quickly.

"I'm sorry that it's taking so long but please stay. I really want to spend more time with you, I don't think you realize how much pain was involved when I thought that I had lost you. I'll try to speed things up and then we can go and do something together, any idea of what you want to do?" Kuu asked and Kuon looked at him, taking in all of the differences that Kuu had gone through since the time of the accident.

"Maybe just stay here and talk," Kuon shrugged and Kuu looked at him patiently.

"Really, you let me know what you want to do and we can do it," Kuu tried to persuade him and Kuon sighed before running his fingers through his hair.

"That's all I want to do, maybe we could go to get something to eat, somewhere we won't be bothered. Maybe book one of those private rooms, do they still do those priva-"

"I'll make a reservation for a great place right now and we can head out in an hour. Would that be okay? There's a stack of magazines right to the side of you or there are some books or maybe taking a walk. Really, go into any of the rooms, feel as at home here as you want to. I can pull whatever strings you need," Kuu said nervously and Kuon laughed.

He pushed himself into a seated position, "Maybe I'll just walk the halls on the upper management level, at least that way I won't really be running into anybody," he smiled, "I'll be back in about twenty minutes, would that -"

"Yes, whatever you need," Kuu said quickly. He got up from his seat before going over to Kuon and knelt down in front of him, he studied his son wanting to make sure that everything was going to be okay. He had been wishing for so long that somehow, by some means supernatural or not, Kuon would come back to them and he had gotten his wish. His son was here.

Still, Kuu was worried about the other side of the wish and he just wanted Kuon to be as safe and protected as possible. His son hadn't seemed to have aged but that might mean that the young man wasn't equipped for the world around him anymore. He knew he wouldn't be able to make significant improvements for Kuon without open communication between the two of them but he wanted what any good father would want, his son to be happy, healthy, and safe.

"You promise me that you'll let me know if you need anything?" Kuu asked and Kuon nodded.

"Of course I will," he said before showing Kuu that he had his phone with him and stepped out to where the elevator was as Kuu sped up the pace on completing the remaining tasks and in booking them a room where they could eat lunch.

…..

…..

" _Hizuri," the director said as he approached Kuu who was looking around as if he didn't understand where he was. This was the acting stage and Kuu had already dressed into the costume of his character but it was as if something was missing. Kuu didn't understand what he was doing here. "Are you okay?"_

" _Not particularly," Kuu said before shaking his head, "Let's get it going. I can act. That's my job, as an actor, that was what my son wanted to do too, my son wanted to act…" he said as if he were retreating into the darkness of a deep rabbit warren. He felt trapped and it was because of something that wouldn't affect most people._

" _What's going on, Hizuri?" the director asked and Kuu looked at him._

" _This shirt is yellow," he said as he held to it, "This jacket is tan, these pants are brown," he said and the director nodded._

" _Hizuri, you suffering some kind of psychotic breakdown?" the director asked and Kuu looked at his shirt again._

" _Isn't yellow a happy color?" he asked and the director paused._

" _Yeah, this is a happy scene that's why the wardrobe department chose it for this scene. We need for them to not only get to hear of how happy and excited you are but we need for them to see it. A lot of the audience appreciates visual storytelling and with your long history of acting, I didn't think that I would have to explain that for you."_

" _There's no black, the buttons aren't black," Kuu said as if he seemed to be sinking into a scene from Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Things just weren't making sense anymore. "There has to be something black, you're denying that he's gone. I have to have something black."_

" _Who knew that Kuu Hizuri was such a diva," a woman commented with a laugh as she sat watching the scene and Kuu couldn't take it any longer. His hands started shaking in front of him and he struggled to hold on mentally. He was going to break but he couldn't honor his son without black. Things didn't magically get better or happy. Kuon wasn't happy, he was never going to be able to be happy again._

" _Hizuri," the director said as Kuu felt his body drop onto the ground, "Are you okay? Somebody get the medic!"_

…..

…..

Kuu had tried to get his work done as quickly as possible and it had taken him twenty minutes less than he had estimated but Kuon wasn't back yet, he hadn't returned. Kuu took a deep breath in, Kuon was safe, he was alive, he didn't need to worry about that anymore. It was all going to be good and okay from now on.

Or at least that was what Kuu thought as he got to the floor that Kuon said he was going to be pacing. It was there that he saw two men who definitely didn't have clearance here. Were they here for Kuon? He had to arrange some kind of security to come. The security team would _have_ to come and help them.

He pressed the alarm on his phone before texting out the floor number.

"You don't even deserve to be alive," one man said and Kuon just stood there before his attention focused on the blond.

"Do you even know how we're alive, how it was human kindness who helped us," he said before rolling his eyes. "Fuwa, I never thought that you would be someone who would value kindness so little when directed towards yourself. I have to say that Kyoko talked me into having a higher opinion of you."

"Well let's see what happens when you have a -" the second man said as he pulled out a gun from his pocket and attempted to line it up with Kuon, Sho Fuwa showing a look of shock on his face but seeming to go along with it. Kuu however forced the man onto the floor as the gun could be heard sliding down the hallway.

"Dad?" Kuon asked before holding Sho back from advancing towards the weapon, "Are you okay?" he asked before seeing blood covering his father's shirt and hand and a limp but still alive body on the floor. Kuu stood up looking at the man.

"He'll survive," he said and then turned to Fuwa, "Don't you dare touch my son," he growled the way that an agitated animal would. "Leave and you won't be a part of this. Never come near my son again."

"I refuse to leave," Sho said to him, "After all, your son should have died that day and who's going to stop me from righting that wrong."

"Me," Kuu replied, "Me, with every last breath of mine. You are not going to do anything to hurt my son."

 **End of Chapter Twenty One**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Twenty**

Brennakai, KrisXD, PaulaGaTo, RichkeyZero

 **Response to Reviews**

Yeah, Sho is kind of an asshole but it can be really dangerous 😉


	22. Chapter 22 - Gratefulness

**AN:** I really hope that you enjoy this chapter 😊

 **Chapter Twenty Two – Gratefulness**

Kuon didn't want to think about what could happen were Sho to get his way. He owed that tribal community his life. Somehow they had thought that there was something good in him and that was why they had decided to try to save him, he wasn't a good person if he allowed their land to get invaded. Kuon bowed his head and dragged his hand through his hair as he sat on the bed. He sighed heavily.

"Are you okay?" Kyoko asked as she came to kneel behind him and let her arms wrap around his shoulders whilst she pressed small kisses to his shoulder. "Sweetheart, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Your friend is causing trouble," Kuon told her and Kyoko tilted her head to the side.

"My friend is causing trouble?" she asked confused as she attempted to think about what Kanae could be doing. She hoped that even with the stories that she had told him about Kanae wanting her to pretend to move on, that Kuon hadn't placed her as a terrible friend.

"Fuwa," Kuon stated and Kyoko sighed.

"Not really my friend," she hummed, "but what is he up to this time? Sweetheart, your reputation, your acting career, those types of things might seem to be easy to change but they're not. After you transitioned from Ren Tsuruga to Kuon Hizuri, you still had their support even when your past surprised them. You've also been gone for six years and they still love you."

Kuon nodded before looking at the floor with his entire body dropping in spirit, "It's not me that he's targeting the most. I think that he wants to hurt _them,_ " he said and Kyoko tilted her head to the side, "He wants to take their land or rather the person that he's working with seems to. Right now they don't have confirmation of their existence or of the fountain of youth but if they were to ever find them. I don't want to be the reason their lives are destroyed."

Kyoko froze. She didn't know what would happen were they to be discovered. She had been told that if she ruined their secret, if she led to the destruction of their land, they would try to hurt Kuon. Kuon's return was important to her, she would never be able to truly explain _how_ important.

"Why would you even be important to him anymore?" Kyoko said through gritted teeth, "Our lives have separated from him so long ago."

"It's Fuwa," Kuon told her and Kyoko sighed. She did have to admit that Shotaro could pose a problem but she had to take comfort in the fact that he wasn't the most intelligent person, his plan had a strong chance of failing. Her heart was hoping that this time would be no different.

…...

…

"Are you sure that you can't even give me a hint of what's going on?" Kuu asked as he faced his son. He was worried about this person who said that he would try to destroy Kuon. He was a little sad that someone like that existed, what joy was even brought by destroying another person's life. It wasn't something he wanted to imagine because even this asshole, Kuu just wanted him to move on and start living his own life without worrying about anyone else. Life was too complicated for that.

"I'm sorry," Kuon apologized as he leaned forwards with his hands on his knees. He paused and then tried to think if there was any way of sidestepping the cause so that he could tell his father what problems might arise. "There was someone who saved my life, a number of people, for some reason Fuwa wants to get back at them despite the fact they saved his life."

"So," Kuu sighed, "When the plane went down there were people who rescued you from the wreckage and they treated you and him and now he wants to launch an attack on them," he said slowly before handing Kuon a cup of tea as they sat inside of Kuu's large house. "Drink it," he gestured and Kuon nodded before doing so.

Kuu looked down, "So," he said as Julie joined them, she sat down next to Kuon and put her hand on his upper arm, squeezing him as if checking whether he was really there, "I'm assuming that there's something that he wants. Something sacred to them that he wants or the person that he's working with wants control over, perhaps even something that would be worth a lot of money."

"It would be worth some money and he probably does want control of it but that's not fair," the younger blond said as his left hand turned into a fist. "You don't do that when somebody has saved your life, when they are responsible for you having a life at all. I want to help them but it would require me to fly there, require me to even know where they are."

Julie felt tears in her eyes and she shook her head as her son and husband turned their attention to her. "I don't want you to fly there, I don't want you to ever board an airplane again," she told him honestly and Kuon frowned.

"Mom, the chances of me getting into ano-"

"No," Julie replied stubbornly as she shook her head. "It's selfish but I don't want to lose you. I've already believed you to be lost before."

"What does Kyoko feel about this?" Kuu asked and Kuon looked at him.

"She's still trying to form an opinion about it," he admitted, "On one hand, she is still so grateful about what happened and she wants me to protect them, she's worried about what might happen were these people to get hurt because there might be something they could do if they think that I betrayed them. On the other hand, she's scared that I might get hurt if I try to do something to help them. She's scared that this time I'll actually die."

"So, the best thing to do is to stop them before they are able to do even more damage," Kuu said and Julie tried to wipe away her tears. Kuu stood up and wrapped his arms around his wife. This was extremely important because he didn't want to have Kuon return just to have him torn away from them again.

Kuon nodded, "I don't even know if that would be enough but it's a start."

"Is there any way that you can ask for help?" Julie asked, "Anyone that you can tell the true story to…maybe if you help from a distance, maybe if they knew what was going on then they can protect their precious…item."

Kuon sighed and looked down, he wanted to figure out a better plan to help them. He wanted to meet with them and work with them but they weren't someone that he could contact. He would have to wait for someone to contact him and hope that they would. He had never owed so much to a community but the way that he could be with his parents, with his daughter, with his wife….he would never lose that gratitude.

…..

…..

 _Kyoko froze as she sat in the living room of her home, she kept looking at her five year old daughter as she colored a picture. She didn't know whether to tell her what day it was or why it was important, she had explained it to her the previous year but just saying the words out loud hurt her heart. She hated this day, February 10_ _th_ _, and yet it was one of the most important days to her._

 _Kyoko looked out into the world feeling distraught. They should be celebrating his birthday, she should have bought him a gift and he didn't even have a grave to visit. If he had died in a natural way then she would have a grave or at least an urn to talk to. She could have placed flowers there, imagined speaking to his spirit but she didn't even have those things._

 _He was gone. She didn't want to admit that he was gone and not just lost in some foreign country._

 _She felt her body stiffen as she imagined his smile, remembered his laugh, felt the way his arms would hold her and he would tell her that he loved her. He had never stopped loving her but it wasn't as if he could tell her that he loved her. Messy tears covered her cheeks._

 _She reached forward for a magazine that had been delivered the previous day to the agency and looked over the paper. She paused as her thumb ran over something that she hadn't wanted to read and yet she knew that she needed to, it was an article titled, "In Memory of Tsuruga Ren."_

 _She cried as she saw his name there. There wouldn't be anyone living who was like him. There would be no Tsuruga Ren, there would be no Hizuri, Kuon. He was her one of a kind fairy prince. She saw Isabella look at her confused but she shook her head. She didn't want to trouble her daughter but maybe she could read that article to her, maybe she could share the photographs of her father and try to make her see the father that she had lost._

 _Kyoko froze as her shaky hands dropped the magazine and she picked it up before staring at the page in which it had opened up. "Man Saved By Small Local Community."_

 _Kyoko paused and she placed her finger on the title. It was a thought that she didn't want to entertain. It was something that she wanted to ignore because she felt that it wouldn't happen to her, she wasn't that lucky, but what would she give to know that Kuon had been saved by someone else. What if he was still living, his heart still beating, because he was saved by a community that she didn't know about._

 _She had never felt that loss of the link between the two of them. She had never felt a break between them but this…this would be far too good to be believed. She could hope but the improbable rarely happened to her. No, she should stick to what was right right now._

 _She should be honoring his birthday not ignoring it and definitely not playing a what if game about it._

…..

…

Kuon left his parents home with a heavy heart. He didn't know what he could do next or how he could help, how he could ever repay the debt for what they had given him. He pushed a hand through his hair, his eyes were stuck to the ground. Someone had saved his life and given him the connection to his family and yet he might have just led to the destruction of their way of life.

He would never forgive himself if that community got hurt because of him being alive. They had spent so much time and energy on preserving his life, he had to help them somehow.

"How are you?" a man asked as Kuon passed him coming out of the Hizuri house. He turned to him to find that he was wearing a purple robe but otherwise just a shirt and jeans, he had some tattoos that made Kuon remember the woman who had driven him back.

Kuon immediately dropped into a bow in front of him, "Hello," he said and the man looked at him.

"How are you?" he repeated and Kuon paused.

"I'm okay, happy to be alive," he said and the man shrugged, "If you are responsible for that in any way then I am truly grateful."

"I am responsible for that," he said before walking over to Kuon and touching his head. "However, sometimes gifts have to be taken away," he said and Kuon felt the pain throughout his body as he dropped down onto the ground. He had never felt this kind of pain before.

 **End of Chapter Twenty Two**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you to reviewers of Chapter Twenty One**

Brennakai, Kris XD

 **Response to Reviews**

Thank you so much for your support with this story, I'm glad that I managed to show Kuu's grief the way it played out in my mind. I hope you continue to enjoy this fic.


	23. Chapter 23 - What Am I Doing Here?

**AN:** This has kind of a strange twist to the story but don't worry, although this might seem like I'm jumping the shark, there is story after this. Hope you guys aren't too upset with the change.

 **Chapter Twenty Three – What Am I Doing Here?**

Kuon stood up, trying to calm himself from the pain and then saw a silver scar that ran halfway down his shoulder, there was a deep red shine to it that didn't seem to be from the blood. It was also thicker but he didn't know why. What had that man done to him? The fountain was in danger and he had no idea where he had been taken.

"Flight to Paris is in Final Boarding," he heard a voice and looked around.

The airport? Why was he at the airport and why did…where was he? He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose before looking down at his hand, why was that bigger as well? It seemed that the fat in his hand had expanded? He felt like he had ballooned out? What had happened to him…what had that man done to him? He had to help them. He had to protect their land, they had already done so much for him and Kyoko. He couldn't forgive himself if he didn't protect him.

He picked up his phone and looked at the corner, the date was different. How long had he been out for? He looked at the calendar and then clicked on it, it was six years ago, the date of the plane crash? Was he supposed to stop the plane. He couldn't think about that.

He grabbed his passport but it fell to the floor and Kuon blinked confused. On the passport picture he looked chubby, overweight. There was a Post It put into the passport as well, 'You have to make a sacrifice to be able to undo the past' it said. Kuon looked at his body. No wonder he was feeling bloated, it was as if his entire appearance had changed. His stomach was so big it was getting hard to see his toes. What was going on?

He looked down to see the same bag at his side as on the day of the accident and wheeled it forward. Was he back on the day of the accident just a couple of sizes bigger? He didn't understand this but somehow he felt compelled to go to the desk for Nippon Airlines and check his bag in.

"Hizuri-sama," the girl said at the desk and he looked at her confused. There was no way that he could be the great actor if he was overweight, who would want to buy into an overweight Ren Tsuruga unless…had he even been Ren Tsuruga, how much had they changed this. No, this was just his worst nightmare coming true! No. He must not be married to Kyoko. Kyoko liked tall and slim athletic body types, she liked people who didn't eat, she cared about what they looked like, their sex appeal.

"You called me Sama?" Kuon asked as he tilted his head to the side.

"Of course, you're one of the people who started out in Japan with acting and rose to the top as Tsuruga-san and now you've been working over here as well as doing some modelling, you're an inspiration to anyone plus size," she said and he stared at her. What was she talking about? Modelling? What kind of modelling?

"Umm, yeah, I was hoping to check in," Kuon said as he looked around warily and then pinched himself. It hurt and it made his eyes widen but he was still there at the airport.

"Okay," the woman said, "It looks as if you're - would you like to change your flight?" she asked as Kuon felt himself remember this conversation, this was where he had agreed to take the earlier flight, he had wanted to be at home as soon as possible with Kyoko and Isabella.

"No. No, I want to take the later flight," Kuon said and the woman looked at him confused.

"You'll be saving a lot of hours if you check this flight, if you're worried about the size of the seat…" she said and that was something Kuon wasn't used to hearing. He was used to being extremely skinny since he rarely ate and now he felt…hungry. How on earth could he be feeling hungry?

"No…no, I'm perfectly…I want to take my flight," he argued and the woman nodded. "I just…my wife, it's easier for my wife," he said as he hoped that they hadn't done anything to destroy his relationship with Kyoko.

"Ah, Kyoko-san," the woman nodded, "Well, if you insist on taking the later flight let's get you checked in for that one. Kyoko-san is a very lucky woman," she said and Kuon gave a sigh of relief. He still had his wife.

"I doubt that," he said and the woman tilted her head to the side before checking in his bag and smiled at him as she handed him his ticket for the flight.

"Well I think both she and your daughter are very lucky to have such an amazing man in their life," she said before her eyes narrowed and she studied him, "Hizuri-san, are you okay?" she asked and he nodded quickly. "Okay, but if you're not doing okay before the flight please talk to someone, promise me, okay?" she asked and Kuon nodded again. "Well, have a safe trip."

Kuon nodded to that as well as he took the ticket. What was he doing here? Why was he here? What had they done to him? He looked at the scar again and then put a hand to his stomach. What had happened to him? Were they actually…was he actually in an alternate version of his past.

As he went through security with people recognizing him excitedly and hearing how he was the best that LME had to offer it seemed more real but that was wrong, this wasn't supposed to feel real. He was supposed to be laying outside the Hizuri residence. Was this just some kind of limbo that he was living in? It didn't make any sense.

After the security process was done, Kuon went to sit on a bench. Why did he feel so hungry? He _never_ felt hungry. With a few runs of his hand through his hair he made a phone call to Kyoko. She would remember him right. He still had the same Kyoko as his wife, right?

He listened to the dial before hearing her voice, "Hi, sweetheart. You at the airport right now?" she asked and Kuon took a look down at his phone.

"I'm…yeah, I think so. Did I wake you?" he panicked and he heard Kyoko yawn.

"It's okay. I'm glad to hear from you. I'm excited to hear how it went," she said and Kuon paused. How it went? Was she talking about the same modelling shoot, the acting in the commercial for the Japanese company? Was she talking about something different?

"I…uh, I could have taken an earlier flight but…but I didn't. I'm sorry, I know you want me at home as soon as possible but I…" he panicked and Kyoko paused.

"You don't sound all right," she said bluntly. "You didn't want to take the earlier flight? Sweetheart, that's okay. I'm still meeting you at the gate, right?" she asked and Kuon paused.

"Yeah, I…Kyoko if the plane doesn't make it, if something goes wrong then I might not die but if something goes wrong know how much I love you, how much I love Bella, please, and please take care of my parents. I know that both of them are going to be wre—"

"Sweetheart," Kyoko yawned again but her concern could be heard in her voice, "Are you okay? Would you like to video chat with me? Are you…did something go wrong?" she asked and Kuon looked at his body. No, he didn't want her to see him like this.

"I don't want you to….see me," he said nervously and Kyoko sighed.

"My sweet Corn, please don't worry if you gained a couple of pounds whilst you were gone. I know that you nearly didn't propose because of your thyroid condition and I told you that no matter what you look like that I love you. Please don't go back to thinking you have to be as thin as you were when you were Ren, it's a health issue and I love you. I love that there's more of you to love as well," Kyoko told him and Kuon placed a hand on his stomach.

"You actually love me despite my body?" he asked and Kyoko hesitated a moment causing Kuon's heart to beat faster.

"Kuon," she said in a no-nonsense tone of voice, "Are you drunk? Corn, if something upset you and you had a few drinks then it's okay. We can talk about it if you want."

"I'm not…I'm not drunk but I'm overweight, all of my IDs, my passport, I'm overweight," he said and Kyoko paused.

"Are you sure you're not drunk?" she asked, "Maybe someone spiked something but anyway, when you were hesitating about proposing to me, I told you that I love you no matter what. Just because you've gained sixty pounds," she said as Kuon felt his heart sink, "as Kuon Hizuri, it's okay. I told you that I love your mind, how intelligent you are, how you think of others, how you can empathize with others. I love your heart, how you love others and see the good in them. I love your talent. I love you for loving me," she continued, "and I love your body and how gorgeous you are and how lucky I am to be with you. Sweetheart, if something's wrong then please just tell me."

"Uh…I don't think anything is wrong," Kuon said as he gave shifty looks from side to side making it seem that he was completely paranoid.

"You don't sound like that," Kyoko replied, "but we'll talk about it when you get home. I love you."

"I love you too," Kuon said as he closed his eyes. "Kyoko, even if something happens to me, I love you. I want the best for you. If you don't stay loyal to me then I won't judge you."

"We'll talk about it when you get home," Kyoko replied with another yawn. "Stay safe, okay?" she asked and Kuon sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I'll try," he said and Kyoko sighed.

"I love you," she said and Kuon closed his eyes. Was this the last time that he would say this to her for a while?

"I love you too," he said before ending the phone call.

…..

…..

During the entire flight, Kuon had been on edge. The flight attendants had tried to calm him down but his nerves never ended. Every time there was turbulence he was all twitchy and nervous and one of the flight attendants had even squatted beside his seat and asked if he wanted to talk to them about what he was feeling and whether he was going to have a panic attack. Still, he wouldn't respond to them.

It was when they had landed at Narita and the seatbelt sign had gone off that he could finally look outside the window. Everything seemed okay. It seemed that he had taken the flight and arrived safely in Japan.

He had gathered his belongings and had gone through the customs, hearing people whispering about him. He would see Kyoko at the gates, correct? He would be able to do that. He paused as he went to the baggage claim and saw the twenty-two year old rush over to him. She threw her arms around him, not able to loop them around his larger body.

"I'm so glad to see you," she said with an excited grin, "Welcome back," she said before Kuon saw the tears in her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her as well and saw Kyoko snuggle into his chest.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her and Kyoko shook her head. She looked around and held to his hand.

"Sweetheart, the plane that arrived before yours never made it here," she told him as he stared at her. He nodded nervously. Had him making that decision to not take the flight meant that he had arrived safely with her. Maybe with some diet and exercise he could get his body back as well. "If you had been on that flight," she sobbed a little and he looked at her.

If this was limbo then limbo was a truly strange place to be. He felt like he was home. He felt like his past had been changed.

"I'm really home, you're really here," he said as he put a hand to her cheek. "I really have a thyroid problem."

"Yes, yes, and yes," Kyoko said as she got onto her tiptoes to kiss him passionately. "And I am so glad you're here. I'm so incredibly glad that I get to kiss you and hug you and that I didn't lose my husband. If you had agreed to take that earlier flight…" she said before shaking her head, that wasn't important anymore. "It's a miracle."

"Yeah," Kuon said feeling extremely on edge, "It's…yeah, it's a miracle."

If the plane had truly crash landed near the small tribal community. If Fuwa had truly survived then maybe that meant he could go there, he could help them, he could protect the fountain of youth from the world. He didn't even know what Kyoko would believe, would she think he was completely crazy. He had to help them.

Still, it was a miracle that he was here in whatever form he _was_ here. He had to try to make the best of it and he wrapped his arms around Kyoko again as she sighed. As they broke apart, Kyoko took his hand and kissed the back of it.

"Let's go find your bag, sweetheart," she grinned at him and he nodded slowly. He wanted her to stay happy but he didn't know how he was here and he wanted to know the answer.

 **End of Chapter Twenty Three**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Twenty Two**

Kris XD, ktoll9, PaulaGaTo

 **Response to Reviews**

There are definitely some hidden secrets to the tribal community that Kuon wants to find out more about but this is actually something that makes Kyoko happy. Kuon had to give up his body to go back in time (no he's not dead) and so they made him give up his standard sexiness and gave him the mark on his arm. However, there is still danger to them and Kuon wants to make sure he helps them so we'll have to see how that happens.


	24. Chapter 24 - Unbelievable

**AN:** Hope you enjoy, this fic will be coming to an end soon but there are still a number of chapters left 😊

 **Chapter Twenty Four – Unbelievable**

Kuon stared down at his feet as he stood on the scale in his and Kyoko's bathroom. He hadn't really seen this until today, maybe because it wasn't necessary to have it because he had been underweight before. Kyoko was still a normal BMI but as he looked down at the number, his body tensed.

Two hundred and thirty five pounds.

TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE POUNDS!?

Kuon took a deep breath in to steady himself, he had to keep the positives in mind. Although his BMI now stated that he was overweight, he was alive, he'd be beside Kyoko as Isabella grew up and he'd be able to be a father. He'd be able to be with his daughter and to celebrate her birthdays with her.

Kyoko approached him as he stood there and placed a hand on his back. She smiled and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"You only gained five pounds this time, I thought that Julie would have wanted to cook more for you and with the amount of food that father leaves around," she said and Kuon looked at her horrified. How come she was okay with this? She was treating this as if it was completely normal and she still looked at him with so much affection in her eyes.

"How are you with me right now?" he asked and Kyoko blinked. "Have I always been…a little heavier?" he asked and Kyoko raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure that you don't need to see a doctor?" she asked before going to the bedroom and she picked up a framed photograph that showed her and Ren when they had started dating. He looked the same as he had done in the past that he remembered. Was it true that it had only started around the time he had proposed to her and that he had been held back in doing so because of this medical condition?

"Why did you stay with me?" Kuon asked her and Kyoko blinked.

"Sweetheart, maybe you should lie down, you're not making that much sense. If you want then I'll get in the bed with you, you can hold me in your arms like you usually do," she smiled and Kuon shook his head.

"I was so attractive in that photo," he told her and Kyoko looked at him concerned, "Do you see?" he said as he held the photograph in his hands. Kyoko reached up to put a hand on his forehead, feeling for a temperature.

"What I see is that you have always been gorgeous and Boss stood up for you in the beginning but he really didn't need to. People wanted to work with you because of your talent, not because you looked a certain way," she said as she stared at him confused. He seemed delirious. Maybe he was getting a cold because why else would he be acting this way.

"You married a fat guy," he said and Kyoko stood with her arms crossed and a proud look on her face.

"I married my beloved sempai," she told him. "Do I need to slap some sense into you?" she asked and Kuon stepped off of the scale. Kyoko returned to the room and picked up a picture, their wedding picture but Kuon definitely looked heavier in it than he remembered.

"Maybe if I got liposu-" he said and Kyoko slapped him, he stared at her, his eyes widening.

"I already told you how upset I'd be if you did that to yourself. I know that you have difficulty, sweetheart, but I don't want you to use surgery to change your body," Kyoko looked at him stubbornly, her eyes telling him how serious she was about that.

"You don't understand though, I'm not supposed to be here," he argued, "I was supposed to take that earlier plane. I was supposed to have crashed somewhere. This is supposed to be six years later and I'm twenty-six and you're twenty-eight."

Kyoko's mouth dropped open, "Kuon, you didn't get given anything that you snuck aboard the plane, right? How long are drugs supposed to stay in your system? I know that in America you can get those illegal drugs more easily than here but…"

"I'm not high," Kuon argued, "I'm supposed to be in a tribal village right now and you're supposed to think that I died and I'm not supposed to be overweight. I think I even lost weight after the accident. Maybe they sent me back in time or I'm hallucinating all of this. I'm not really here. I must be somewhere else, maybe they drugged me and this is all a dream. Am I really in a coma? No, you wouldn't be able to answer that truthfully," Kuon tried to reason it all out and Kyoko took a step back. She didn't know if he had a concussion or something but he wasn't acting as if he were okay.

Kyoko sighed and took his hand, "Kuon, did something happen that you can't tell me?" she asked as she looked at him and then found his body shaking. Had he somehow lost his mind? She led him over to their bed and sat with him, holding one of his hands with both of hers. "I'm with you," she told him, "I love you. I'm here with you and I think you just need to try to move on from those thoughts in your head. Do you need to see someone?"

"I'm not crazy," Kuon said suddenly as he ripped his hand away and Kyoko sighed, she shivered herself as she attempted to stay calm.

"I know you're not," she whispered before putting a hand to his cheek, "I love you, Kuon. I know that you're not crazy but you don't seem to be making any sense and I'm sorry but I don't understand. I don't really get it what you're saying so can you please explain it to me slowly?"

"Why are you with me?" Kuon asked and Kyoko froze.

"Because I love you and because you love me and we're married and we have a daughter and…" Kyoko groaned and pointed at him, "Don't you dare make this about your weight. You are a plus sized model and you have to deal with that, you're a plus sized _model._ "

Kuon nodded shakily before the two of them heard the wailing of the young one-year-old, Kuon looked in that direction but Kyoko went and kissed his cheek. "I'll get her, you just try to calm your head, okay?" she asked before leaving the room. Kuon sighed. Maybe he could actually stay here and be able to take care of his daughter, he would be able to see her grow up and spend those important moments with her.

Kyoko soon returned with Isabella reaching out for her Daddy and Kuon was able to hold her in his arms. He hadn't truly understood the extent to which he had missed this and looking into Bella's adorable eyes he didn't want to be anywhere else.

"I think that she missed you more this time," Kyoko said before choking back on another sob. "It seems that she knows more about what's going on and she wanted her Daddy to come home safely. I'm so glad that you're home safely, that for some reason you didn't change your flight. It must have been a sixth sense," Kyoko sniffed again and looked up and into the ceiling, "Maybe the fairies brought you home safely."

"Well, a more human version of fairies," Kuon said as he kissed Isabella's forehead and she grabbed to the chain that he had around his neck. He kissed her cheek and heard her laugh softly.

"I always knew that you were going to be a good father," Kyoko said as she sat down next to Kuon and let her head rest on his shoulder. She sighed as she reached out to their daughter and Bella reached to grab her hand. She ran her fingers through the girl's hair.

Kuon sighed and Kyoko tilted her head to the side as she watched her husband, "Sweetheart, what is it?"

"Do you think that I have to go back? Can't I just stay here?" he asked her and Kyoko raised an eyebrow again. She was now back to worrying about him, worrying about the way that he was talking about this and the way he kind of sounded insane. She didn't know how to cope with this but she knew she wanted to do what was best for him.

"You mean because the people who know where the fountain of youth are might send you back to an alternate future?" she asked and Kuon nodded. "Sweetheart, I'm going to try to get in touch with Yashiro, maybe he has some idea if you knocked your head or you have some illness. You just take care of Bella and I'll go and make some tea," she tried to assure him and Kuon looked after her before sighing.

He didn't know how he could get her to believe him.

…

…

Kyoko went to put the kettle on to make the tea whilst also pulling out some pastries that she had made. She had to be honest that she enjoyed cooking for her husband, he had seemed to gain Kuu's want to eat whilst his metabolism rebelled against that. She knew it was important for him to have a balanced meal but she didn't see the trouble with treats in moderation. Plus, he was adorable.

She sighed as her hand brushed against her phone and she checked the time. Her inlaws wouldn't be asleep right now and maybe Father wouldn't even be at work and it was part of her duty to tell them that Kuon was safe. She paused. They hadn't called them, what if they were scared of Kuon catching that earlier flight!?

She couldn't _not_ call him. Kyoko picked up the phone and pushed the buttons to contact Kuu, she waited and was glad that the phone was picked up on the other end. She smiled softly.

"Hello, Kuu speaking," she could hear that he had a little apprehension in his voice, did he know? Was he wonderi-

"Kuon's okay," Kyoko said quickly and heard Kuu relax, "he decided not to take that earlier flight even though he was offered a ticket. He didn't want to change his flight but he's…Father, I know that it might not be my right to ask this but has Kuon ever…has he ever…"

"Has he ever what?" Kuu asked slowly.

"He just seems stuck on this one idea that doesn't make any sense," Kyoko said as she turned away and looked at the corner of the room. She didn't want for Kuon to ever hear that she was talking about him this way and she was asking Kuu because he might be able to help her. She didn't want for Kuon to be locked up or put on medication but the stories that he was telling sounded so insane.

"So it's to do with his acting?" Kuu asked and Kyoko sighed.

'No, it's this…it's a fantasy type of thing. Kuon believes that he was in the future and that some tribal community members had saved him by using water from the fountain of youth, he thinks that he came back after being seen as dead for six years and that I'm actually older than him. I don't know…it doesn't make any sense but he's so committed to the idea. Father," Kyoko sobbed feeling terrible for the judgement she was pushing forward to her husband, "I don't know what to do. I don't know what's going on in that brain of his."

"Kuon doesn't lie about things like this, yes he covered up his identity for years -" Kuu argued and Kyoko felt a sob in her chest.

"Father," she said slowly, "Are you saying that you believe he's from the future?"

"No," Kuu said slowly as his own worry could be heard in his inflection, "No, I do not."

 **End of Chapter Twenty Four**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you, reviewers of Chapter Twenty Three**

Kris XD, paulagato

 **Response to Reviews**

Well Kuon is going through a lot which Kyoko sees as him being unfair to himself but also maybe that he's losing his mind so Kuon is going to have to focus on what is going on around him and whether it's real or not.


	25. Chapter 25 - So This is Life

**AN:** I decided to finish this fanfic here, sorry if it seems like a bit of a rush but this was what I had planned to be the last chapter anyway. I just really hope that you enjoy it. Thank you to everyone who has shown such support to this story over the past year, I am truly grateful to you all.

 **Chapter Twenty Five – So This is Life**

Kuon stood outside the LME building not sure whether to go in or not, he could hear people around him talking about how he was this famous actor and he had even heard people talking about him in ways like sexy and gorgeous which really, he couldn't believe given his new weight. However, this bulk of fat was better to have than being absent from his family life and his daughter growing up without him.

He stared up at the tall building, the famous agency which had given him so much. It looked the same as he had remembered it but he had just seen a whole different life for himself. He bowed his head. Maybe he was in a coma or something or maybe he had gone crazy. He took another deep breath in before seeing someone wearing a baggy hoody walk over to him.

He quickly cast his eyes up and was surprised to see that it was one of the people from the tribe, this time it was a man standing beside him. "I don't understand," he said and Kuon blinked at him, "Is being overweight such a problem in your culture. You are an American, aren't you?"

"You know that's not what this is about," Kuon whispered at him. He looked around, "I was supposed to have been in that plane crash, I was supposed to."

"We all make sacrifices," the man beside him told him and Kuon rolled his eyes.

"I can deal with being fat," he said, "Plus it looks like I'm still acting and my wife is still attracted to me. Dealing with wearing different clothes and not being a model really doe-"

"You are still a model but for plus size clothing," the man reminded him and Kuon stared at the agency building again. There had been so many memories there. Still what about the memories of others? What about Kyoko raising Isabella alone.

"So, you took me back in time?" he asked and the man sighed.

"For someone who once had the elixir of life in them, you don't seem to believe a lot of these decisions. I did place you back in time but to do that you have to sacrifice something, I had to change your body to -"

"I don't care about my weight," Kuon said honestly, "So, you're saying that all of this is real, that I'm not in a coma, that I really do get to be a husband to my wife and help her to raise my daughter. That's all that matters. As long as Kyoko accepts me, then do whatever you want to my body. Should I still continue on as if this is real?" he asked and the man nodded.

"I do want to ask you for one thing in return though," he said and Kuon turned to him. "When we rescued you, our community was put under threat for the first time. We weren't prepared to make this sacrifice and yet you are a good man, you would have protected us. That means that we allowed you to live. So, just accept this gift and don't spit at it."

"Okay," Kuon nodded, his eyes knowing that this man was telling the truth. "I won't tell anyone about this," he reached his hand out and took the other man's, "I guess all I have to say is thank you so much and goodbye."

"Goodbye, Kuon Hizuri, may you live a full and happy life," the man said and then vanished. Kuon smiled. Okay, maybe this was the gift he had always wanted.

…..

…..

Kuon stood on the front step of his house, ready to accept this new life and move into the future. He held a wrapped present of makeup in his hand that he knew Kyoko loved as well as a bouquet of flowers. He rang the doorbell despite having a key and waited for Kyoko to open the door for him. She looked at the gift and the flowers and smiled.

"What's this for? Are you feeling okay?" she asked as she placed a hand on his cheek and Kuon nodded.

"I'm sorry for scaring you before, I think that I just was waking up from a really weird dream," he told her. "But everything is okay now, it's going to be okay, because I'm home where I belong."

Kyoko smiled as she threw her arms around him and leaned up for a kiss, "I really do love you," she said as he lifted her, holding her close to him.

"I love you too," he replied before looking around.

He truly was home.

 **End of Alive**

 **Thank you so much for reading**

 **Thank you to everyone who has ever reviewed, favorited, and/or followed this fic. I couldn't have made this journey without you, so truly from the bottom of my heart, thank you.**


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